Seasons Change
by OldMondlerLover
Summary: Mondler AU. It still happened in London, but Ross said the right name and everyone finds out about them almost immediately. Hum...sounded like an interesting concept, to me anyway ;) Enjoy! *COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

Chandler looked on, a little grin planted on his face, as Monica kissed her Dad's cheek at the end of their dance. When the music started in the garden courtyard of the Waltham's home, Emily had danced with her Dad and Ross with his Mom, before Monica's Dad had pulled her onto grass for the final few verses of the song.

The wedding had been enchanting. Chandler never thought he'd seen a more beautiful ceremony, though maybe his mind was clouded by fatigue.

Very, very satisfied fatigue.

Or maybe all the romance in the air was getting to him. Everyone, except Rachel, was smiling, laughing and joking with the happy couple. He'd already danced with the bride and Monica's Mom. She'd danced with her brother and, now, her father. They hadn't danced together yet and he was ready. He was more than ready to hold her in his arms again.

Nah, he decided, "romance" wasn't exactly the right word to describe what was getting to him. She'd gotten to him.

The night they'd spent together before the wedding had played back like a dirty movie in a continuous loop in his mind, even during the ceremony. He'd never felt so much passion making love to anyone, ever. And she'd returned it. Thoroughly.

He could think of nothing else.

On the way down the aisle they had hastily made plans to get together again that night. He'd felt the anticipation all the way down to his toes, but in the past hour he'd started to worry. Monica hadn't said more than two words to him since the reception started, and he began to wonder if she was having second thoughts.

And she was.

Monica stepped back into the shadows next to Rachel as her dance with her father ended.

"How are you holding up?" she asked her friend, who had been pretty quiet since the reception started.

Rachel sighed.

"I shouldn't have come," she said sadly, shaking her head. "This is just too hard."

"I'm so sorry, Rach," Monica said, putting a hand around Rachel's waist and pulling her in for a hug.

"But you know what the worst part will be?" Rachel asked, as Monica shook her head. "Seeing them together every day back at home. That'll be worse than this, when they're just living their happy life together."

Rachel waved a dismissive hand at the happy couple and Monica pursed her lips together. Finally Rachel sighed and turned to her with a frown.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, her voice catching before she continued. "I know he's my friend and he's your brother and this should be a happy thing. I know that. I just…I just wish he wasn't my ex, too, ya know?"

Monica nodded, stealing a brief glance across the yard in Chandler's general direction. She began to chew on her bottom lip.

"It just makes it that much harder," Rachel continued, oblivious to Monica's own internal strife. "It's just easier when there's a clean break and you just, you just don't see the guy anymore, ya know?"

Monica felt like her stomach fell through the floor with Rachel's last comment. Yes, yes that did make it easier - a clean break. And here she was, having had the best sex ever with her best friend the night before, her mind churning over what it was going to do to their friendship, knowing the only thing she could _not_ do is cut Chandler out of her life.

God, what a mess, she thought. How did they let this happen? How could they let it happen again? Her body heated up rapidly at the very thought of them hooking up again that night, but should they?

"Mon?" Rachel asked when her friend didn't respond to her last comment. Monica shook herself out of her own head and focused on her friend again.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said again. "I wish I knew what to tell you."

Rachel smiled a little at her.

"Well," she said, swallowing her tears and throwing her hair back over her shoulder. "I think I'm gonna get one of those free drinks then head back to the hotel. Can I have your key?"

"Oh, oh sure," Monica said, digging it out of her small purse.

"Thanks for letting me stay in your room," Rachel said, giving her a hug. Monica couldn't help but think of how convenient it would be if Rachel _wasn't_ staying in her hotel room, but in the long run maybe she was inadvertently saving her from certain disaster.

"Sure," Monica said, hugging her back. "Be careful."

Rachel nodded and walked away. Monica turned and looked up through the courtyard, catching Chandler staring at her. He gave her a gentle smile, which she returned with butterflies clearly holding a family reunion in the pit of her stomach.

Chandler slowly made his way over to her as the twinkling lights danced in the low laying branches gently bouncing in the trees overhead.

"So," he said softly, not at all sure where to begin as he burrowed his hands into the pockets of his pants, "enjoying yourself?"

Monica ran her palm down her arm then brought her hands together, twisting a loose ring around her finger.

"Oh, yeah, of course," she said, nodding but not making eye contact with him. "It was a beautiful ceremony, wasn't it?"

Chandler nodded, looking at the ground.

"Thanks to you," he said, peeking up at her, lopsided grin on his face. She grinned back.

"My Mom said it looked like a fairytale," she said, shrugging as she began to look anywhere but at him. "I guess that's something."

Chandler frowned, shrugged and nodded all at the same time. He was so damn nervous, but she seemed more so. He knew he could use and drink, and figured she could, too, but decided against it. Wasn't that what had brought on last night in the first place?

He sighed deeply and Monica finally looked up at him. Her heart was fluttering wildly. God, she was so scared. Scared of the ramifications from obliterating that line between friends and lovers so thoroughly the night before she had no idea what was left of who they used to be to each other and…maybe they still were?

"Mon, are you avoiding me?" he finally, softly asked as he took a step closer to her.

"I don't know," she said quietly, her suddenly watery eyes searching his. "Chandler, we've been best friends for so long…"

"I thought we weren't really that close," he interrupted, giving her his lopsided grin. She smirked softly at him.

"You know I didn't mean that," she said as a blush came to her cheeks.

"I know," he said softly, taking a warm hand out of his pocket and linking his fingers with hers. "Look, I know we had plans to meet up tonight, but if…if that's not what you want…"

"I'm afraid of what it might do to our friendship if we did," she said. He nodded, because he understood.

"I know," he said, trying not to show her how defeated his heart felt. He cleared his throat and gestured toward the couples dancing on the grass.

"We're part of the wedding party," he said, looking at Joey and Felicity now on the dance floor. "I think it's our turn."

Monica smiled as they walked a couple paces to the edge of the dancing area and Chandler pulled her into his arms.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Chandler," she whispered worriedly, closing her eyes tight. The very last thing she wanted him to think was that she'd just used him the night before. She may have gone to his room looking for sex, but what had happened between them had meant oh, so much more to her than that. So much more.

He held her hand tighter against his chest as his other hand softly pushed into the small of her back, pulling her closer. Monica parted her lips to breathe against the lapel of his tux, the scent of him so close to her beginning to make her head spin, naturally taking her back to the night before. Involuntarily her fingertips dug into his shoulder.

He nodded and swallowed heavily.

"It's OK, Mon," he whispered, and he meant it.

Chandler closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. It was OK because he loved her. Was he in love with her? That he didn't know, but Monica Geller? His beautiful best friend, his rock, the one they all leaned on, even though she was as vulnerable as the rest of them - _her_? Yeah, he loved her and he wasn't going to let that go - for anything.

"I understand," he whispered, giving her gentle squeeze as he nodded again. Monica kept her eyes closed, reveling in the feel of his arms around her as they moved slowly in a circle together under the leaves and the lights, the breeze bathing her already sensitive skin. She shivered, her shawl having long ago slid down to rest on her hips.

Chandler felt her tremor and wrapped the hand that was on her back around the edge of her wrap, grazing her skin with his fingers as he did his best to drape it back over her shoulders with one hand. Finally he let go of the hand at his chest and used both of his to put the wrap back into place as Monica gazed up into his face.

"Better?" he asked in a low voice as he gently pulled the wrap part-way across her chest. Monica raised her hands, put them over his and nodded. A trace of a grin graced his lips and Monica was taken aback by the overwhelming feelings that swept through her as she looked into his sweet face. Behind the sarcasm and the silliness he was so gentle, so kind, so…handsome and passionate and no woman, she thought suddenly, was ever going to be good enough for him. For _her_ Chandler. No one.

No one else, that is.

Chandler moved his hands to settle back on her hips as they kept time with the music once again, Monica's palms resting against the front of his shoulders. Their eyes were locked as they instinctively pulled closer together. Slowly Monica moved her hands to his jaw, cupping his face. She almost didn't detect his sharp intake of breath as the very ends of her fingertips gently moved over both his ears, but she didn't miss it either.

His heart was thundering as his fingers dug deeper into the fabric of the dress on either side of her. Slowly, oh so slowly she pulled his face closer to hers. She lowered her eyelids and licked her parted lips as he did the same, their open mouths slowly circling each other, nearly close enough to touch - heavy breathing and heavy uncertainty mingling in the small space between them.

"What are we doing?" she said in a long, breathy, whisper.

"I don't know," he said , his voice low and sultry enough to make her whole body shudder and not from the crisp night air, "but I know one thing."

"What's that?" she breathed, her lips almost touching his.

"I'm going to kiss you, right now," he whispered, his husky voice dripping with passion. A split-second later his hungry lips caught hers, and she moaned into him and kissed him back. Then she gasped as his hands rose to cradle her face just as hers cradled his between her palms.

"Chandler!" she said in a forceful whisper, her eyes still closed.

"What?" he asked, his body trembling with desire for her. He could feel her already, wrapped around him, as part of him.

She let out a shaky exhale, her heart aching in ways she never knew existed.

"Don't stop," she breathed, her whole body catching fire as her hands ran through the back of his hair. "Kiss me…kiss me…"

He caught her bottom lip between his, then her lips caught his just the same before they both took deep breaths through their noses, kissing one another as deeply as they possibly could until they couldn't breathe.

They were in the dark shadows of the dance floor, but prying eyes weren't far away. The bride and groom may have been oblivious, but the bridesmaid and best man making out in the far corner didn't escape the notice of nearly everyone else, including some very interested friends and family.

Chandler could almost feel them staring at them. He reluctantly broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, each of them trying to catch their breath. They both had clear vision, though, and unlike the night before knew exactly what they were doing.

"Your room or mine?" he whispered.

"Rachel's staying in my room," she said quickly. Chandler cast a quick glance around the courtyard and spotted Joey now "talking New York" once again with Felicity.

"My room it is," he said, looking at her again, a perfect mix of lust and mirth lighting up his now dark blue eyes. He took her hand securely in his.

"Returning to the scene of the crime," she said, smirking seductively at him. He smirked back at her, silently thanking God it was dark outside or it would be obvious to everyone how turned on he was, and pulled her out of the courtyard. She threw a dazed and love-struck look of excitement to a floored Rachel as they left.

Rachel's jaw was still dropped as she caught Joey's eye, the same look on his face, then their gazes followed the new lovers out of the Waltham's backyard.

 _ **NOTE: I don't even know what this is. It's not a one-shot, but I don't think it'll be a big epic, either.**_

 _ **For some unknown reason I had this Mondler-story brainstorm over the weekend and this idea came to me - what if Ross had said "Emily" and Chandler and Monica had to figure out whether or not they wanted to continue on without the distractions of a disastrous wedding but instead with the enhancement of a romantic one. Oh, and pretty much everyone found out about them**_ **while** _**they were in London. Just a thought…and at some point I'm pretty sure I'll keep this thought going :) Lemme know what**_ **you** _**think…**_


	2. Chapter 2

"What in the hell is going on?" Joey asked a still stunned Rachel as he made his way across the courtyard, adding with a little squeak. "Did you see that?!"

"You saw it, too?!" she asked, breathless, trying to get over the shock. The look on Monica's face as she left with Chandler was almost crazed, almost like she'd consumed some sort of love potion. Rachel had never seen a look on her face like that before.

"I didn't see them, Felicity did!" he continued. "She asked me how long they'd been dating and I said 'how long who had been dating' and she nodded to them dancing. I was just about to tell her she was nuts when she pointed at them leaving together. Did _you_ see anything?"

Rachel took a quick gulp of her drink, sucking in as much alcohol as she could before she answered in the affirmative.

"I saw them dancing and then (she took a deep breath) they were _kissing_ ," she said, gesturing with her hand for emphasis. "I mean full-on, making-out, playing-tonsil-tennis kissing!"

"Oh my God!"

"I know!" Rachel said, as Joey put his hands on his hips.

"What does this mean?!" he asked. "Are they…are they _together_ now or something?"

"No," Rachel said in a long breath, giving him a very skeptical look, then she squished up her face. "Chandler and Monica?"

"Hey, you're the one who saw them making out," Joey said, pointing to her. Rachel froze, letting exactly what she'd witnessed finally sink in for a minute.

"Where do you think they went?" Joey asked, then his eyes grew wide as he suspected where they might be going. "Do you think they…they…"

Rachel shook her head.

"I've got her key," she said.

"Yeah, but Chandler's got a key, too," he said, nervously running his hand over the back of his hair, "and _two_ beds."

Rachel had no idea what that had to do with anything, but she made quick work of the reminder of her drink, finally slamming her drained glass, with barely melted ice cubes, on a passing waiter's tray with a thud.

"Well," she said, pulling Joey's jacket sleeve, "there's only one way to find out. Come on!"

###

Monica put her small purse down on the table in his hotel room and slowly turned to him as Chandler slammed the extra lock closed on the door. Exhaling slowly, she smiled at him.

For a moment he was stunned, almost not believing she was standing right in front of him, a gentle smile on her face he'd never seen before. A smile seemingly meant only for him.

Monica swallowed hard as she watched him start to walk toward her. He looked so incredibly handsome in his tuxedo, and she fleetingly wondered if she would have thought that even if her heart wasn't beating wildly in anticipation of reenacting the night before.

Chandler raised his hand and cupped her face. Her skin jumped at his touch.

"God, you look…gorgeous," he said softly, looking into her eyes with a desire that she could only imagine was matched in hers. He gently kissed her lips as her hands moved to unbutton his vest. He brought his other hand to her face and traced her jawline with his thumbs.

"You are so, so beautiful," he whispered, kissing her chin. She sucked in her breath as he moved his mouth to her neck when she lolled her head to the side for him.

She undid the few buttons on his vest and pushed off his jacket. He pulled her closer as it fell to the floor, his lips never leaving her neck. Monica locked her arms around him, holding on tight, barely able to keep herself standing her legs were shaking so much.

"Chandler, oh God…" she moaned, shudder after shudder rippling through her. "Ohhh, your…lips are perfect. Every…touch. Perfect…"

He turned her around towards the bed, lifting his head and changing to the other side of her neck as he slowly brought down the spaghetti straps of her loose-fitting, custom-fit red bridesmaid dress. She fell back to sit on the comforter, one palm down on the top of the bed behind her to steady herself.

"Joey's bed?" she asked in a whisper, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck to pull him to her again.

"He hasn't used it," he said, before his lips briefly met with hers again, then he smirked at her. "Might as well give it a good workout."

"Hum…it might get jealous if we didn't," she said, throwing her head back as he worked his way from her collarbone to the valley between her breasts, pulling her dress down along with him.

"Exactly," he murmured, bringing her dress down to her waist. Then he froze and looked up at her, his eyes wide and a little dazed.

"You're not wearing…"

She grinned, her face turning crimson. Monica herself almost couldn't believe the next words that fell out of her mouth, but something about her saying them to Chandler made her feel…safe.

"I'm not wearing anything," she said, giving him a cheeky grin as his eyes almost bugged out of his head. She watched a fine sheen of sweat break across his forehead. She reached down and lifted his face to hers, pulling his head up towards her once again.

"I've been turned on since last night," she whispered, watching his eyes darken as she spoke. "I wanted to feel it all day. I wanted to feel _you_ all day…"

Her face felt like it was on fire but her eyes were blazing as they looked into his, and he was sure he was going to explode right then and there. Chandler crawled over top of her, a look of dumbfounded awe on his face as she fell back onto the bed, beaming up at him, soaking in the now radiating light shining from his eyes. She half-gasped in surprise when his lips took hers again, kissing the breath right out of her as his hands roamed almost every part of her body they could reach.

She quickly pulled on his tie and loosened it, working on the buttons of his shirt next as his mouth continued to cover hers. The hunger she thought had been fueled by alcohol and depression the night before instead was growing stronger with each deep kiss, soft caress, throaty moan.

When she finally freed him of his shirt and tie her fingertips dug into his bare shoulders, running forcefully down his back and back up again. Chandler shuddered and groaned as her fingers sunk into his flesh, then he reached one hand under her dress as his mouth made its way slowly down her chest. When he touched her Monica's head flew back on the bed, her back arching into him as a deep, but loud moan escaped her open lips.

###

"Oh my God, what was that?!" Rachel asked as she grabbed Joey's arm before he could put the key in the hotel room door. Joey, having heard the same howl from Monica, turned his wide eyes to Rachel.

"Chandler?!" he asked, completely flummoxed. " _Chandler_ made a woman do that?!"

"Chandler made _Monica_ do that!" she whispered hotly, her face fixed in shock. "It's like we've been dropped into some twisted version of 'The Twilight Zone!'"

They both turned their heads back towards the door as more moans, from both parties, spilled out into the hall just loud enough to be heard.

"Yeah, baby," Joey said, a proud little smirk for his roommate gracing his lips.

"Joey!" Rachel whispered. "We can't stand here and listen to…to them…to any more of this!"

He made a very disappointed face in her direction as she pulled his arm toward Monica's hotel room. Once there Rachel closed the door and spun to him, launching into a hundred questions Joey had no hope of answering any more than she did.

"How long do you think this has been going on? Have they been hiding it from us? Do you think they're in love? Oh my God, Joey!" she said, slapping his arm twice to express her point more forcefully. "This is unbelievable!"

"I know!" he said, rubbing his arm, then shook his head, "and I don't know! He's never said anything about it to me and, believe me, I think he'd say something about it! I know I would…"

Rachel rolled her eyes at him and pointed in the direction of the guys' room.

"Do you know what this means?" she asked, mostly rhetorically. "I mean this…this changes everything!"

Joey shrugged his shoulders.

"What changes?" he said as dismissively as he could. "I mean, so Monica and Chandler are 'doing it.' What does that change, really?"

Rachel threw up her hands in exasperation, her gossip-loving mind ready to spread the news of Monica and Chandler's hook-up far and wide. She hurried over to the phone by the bed and dialed New York.

"Rachel…" Joey started as he reached for the phone, but she pulled away from him.

"Shh!" she demanded, then she said, "Pheebs!" Joey stepped back and shook his head.

"Hey!" Phoebe said, then added with a sympathetic voice. "How are you doing? You doing OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rachel said with a wave of her hand, excitement sweeping through her voice, her own heartbreak forgotten for the moment. "Phoebe, the wildest thing has happened, you're not gonna believe it…"

###

Monica rolled over, her blurry eyes looking at the clock on the nightstand. She groaned a little as she felt him shift next to her, wrapping his arms a little tighter around her.

"What time is it?" he mumbled in a ragged, sleepy voice that even in her exhausted state made her heart inexplicably begin to race.

"Almost 3," she whispered quietly, and he pulled her closer. Chandler sighed, both content and apprehensive at the same time, something inside telling him their magical time together was coming to an end. He was proven right as she moved out of his arms and turned to face him, her eyes glistening in the dark.

"I better go," she whispered, cupping his chin between her thumb and forefinger. "Rachel's probably already wondering where I am and the plane leaves at…

"… 9:45," he finished for her, his eyes searching hers. "I know. I'm sure Joey will be back to pack soon, too."

Monica gently scrapped her fingernails over his chin, suddenly at a loss for words. She lifted her mouth to his and kissed him gently. He kissed her back, just as softly, cupping her face in his palm.

"Chandler," she whispered when their lips pulled apart, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "These last two nights have been…have been…"

She shook her head and he held his breath, waiting, heart in his throat.

"So incredible," she breathed. "Thank you…"

He briefly furrowed his brow in confusion, then tried to smile a little.

"Yeah, they…they were," he whispered back, his heart sinking further each second as she began to inch away from him.

As she moved out of his embrace all she could think was how much she wanted to stay in it, how much she wanted this dream to continue. Tears stung her eyes as she reached down to pick up her dress.

"What happens now?" he asked, his voice cutting through the quiet room. The softness in his tone made her heart melt. She pulled on her dress to buy time to gather her composure before she turned back to him.

"You said Rachel knows," he said, raising an eyebrow to her in the dark, "and if she knows, you know everyone else knows."

"I know," she said with a sigh, sitting back down on the bed. He took her hand in his.

"So…what do we tell them?" he finally asked, gently squeezing her hand. Her eyes locked with his as she contemplated her answer, but she failed to come to any conclusions.

"I don't know," she said truthfully. They continued to look at one another, neither quite ready to break the spell that had been cast over them for the past 24-plus hours. Finally Chandler smiled at her.

"Go back and try to get some rest," he said softly. "We'll, ah, we'll figure it out when we're back home."

"Yeah?" she said, the wisp of a hopeful smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah," he said with his little grin, doing his best to reassure both of them.

She leaned across the bed, cupped his cheek and they kissed. It was brief, but full of the passion that had exploded between them.

"I'll see you in a few hours," she said as she pulled back, already missing him.

"Yeah," he nodded, trying to soak in every angle of her face. "Goodnight, Mon."

He smiled and she smiled back.

"Goodnight," she said. She slid out of bed and with one last look back at him, closed the door behind her.

Chandler laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, anxiety beginning to creep into his heart as he wondered how they were going to make whatever was happening between them work under the intense scrutiny of their friends in New York.

Monica walked a few doors down to her room, digging out the second room key she had stashed in her purse, silently praying that Rachel would be fast asleep when she entered.

Thankfully, she was. Monica quickly changed out of her red dress, holding it close to her for a moment, reliving everything she'd felt while she was wearing it. Suddenly a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her, knowing the beautiful, romantic bubble she'd lived in with him for the past two days had burst. In the harsh light of day, she knew they'd have a lot of questions thrown their way.

And as she gently laid down on her side of the bed, her eyes remained wide open as she wondered what the answers would be.

 _ **NOTE: I have no idea where this is all coming from, but it's just a-comin'! And now I have a pretty good idea of where it's going. Attempting not to make it too angsty, though…**_

 _ **Attempting ;)**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Joey! For the love of God will you just…Let! It! Go?!" Chandler said hotly, throwing back his head against the seat of the airplane.

Dammit, Chandler thought as he squeezed his eyes closed against Joey's demanding, uber-curious gaze, briefly shutting up his roommate. Joey had bombarded him with questions as soon as they started taxing down the runway, knowing Chandler couldn't escape the "seatbelt on" sign. He'd absolutely bombarded him and Chandler had been stupidly, completely blindsided by it.

His suddenly devious best friend had somehow managed to lure him into a false sense of security while they were still in the hotel room in London. Chandler had no reason to think Joey had a clue about he and Monica being together, and Joey gave him no reason to suspect he did as he quickly went about preparing to leave for New York. He'd been late coming back from Felicity's room that morning so all his packing had been sloppy and hasty.

They'd met Monica in the hall, Rachel having left earlier in the morning, trying to catch a flight home on standby. Monica had given him a wide-eyed expression and a little shrug when they saw each other, but he wasn't sure what that meant. So as Joey hailed a cab to the airport, Chandler pulled Monica aside…

 _"Well, what'd she say?" he asked quietly, letting his fingers lay on her arm after he'd pulled her closer to him. Monica's bare skin felt like smoldering coals as his touch lingered. She swallowed hard and tried to keep her composure, casting a quick glance at Joey._

 _"She didn't say a word!" Monica whispered. "I kept waiting for her to say something and…nothing."_

 _"Really?" he said, surprise in his voice as he watched a cab starting to slow down._

 _"Really," she said, casting her eyes around, as if looking for hidden spies in the hotel landscaping. "I don't trust it, though."_

 _"Trust what?" he asked, confused._

 _"Her. Not asking questions," she whispered, finally looking back at him. "It's a set-up, I know it."_

 _"Mon," he started with a grin, stepping just a touch closer to her as Joey helped load their luggage into the trunk of the cab. Unbeknownst to them, he was definitely keeping the couple in his peripheral sights._

 _Monica took a deep breath as she caught of whiff of Chandler's scent when he moved toward her. God, she thought, how long was that alone going to affect her?_

 _"Maybe she really doesn't know anything," he said. "Maybe no one saw us or, ya know,_ cares _even if they did…"_

 _"I know she saw us leaving together," she said, gnawing on her lower lip as she remembered the look they shared when she and Chandler left the Waltham's garden, but Chandler just shrugged._

 _"Could be all she saw," he said, casting another glance at Joey as he talked to the driver. Then he looked into her eyes and grinned again._

 _"Maybe it's still our little secret," he whispered. His heart started to hammer faster as he watched a smile twitch on her lips._

 _"Our secret, huh?" she said, giving him a cute, little sideways glance. "I kinda like the sound of that."_

 _"Yeah?" he breathed, fighting every natural temptation he had to just kiss her._

 _"Yeah," she said with a seductive playfulness he'd never seen before lighting up her eyes._

 _"You guys ready," Joey said loudly from the side of the car, with a knowing look on his face that neither of them, locked in their own moment, were fast enough to catch…_

"Let it go?" Joey finally said, eyes wide. "Let it go?! I will not…Chandler, this is huge!"

Chandler sighed loudly, not opening his eyes.

"You slept with Monica," Joey said, louder than he should have. " _She_ …slept with _you_!"

"Keep your voice down! Jesus!" Chandler whispered fiercely, quickly opening his eyes and darting his head from side to side, trying to detect any reaction from their fellow passengers.

The plane was so large he didn't even know where Monica was sitting. He sighed again, remembering how relieved he was when they left New York and he found out Monica wasn't sitting close to them on the plane to England. At the time "six hours with Monica" seemed like way too much.

Now…God, what they could do in six hours…

"So…was it…ya know," Joey said with a smirk, nudging him with his elbow, shaking Chandler from his little fantasy. "Ya know…"

Chandler opened his eyes wide at his friend.

"Joey!" he scolded, somewhat taken aback. "She's…I…I'm not saying…no."

He crossed his arms defiantly. With any other woman, _any other one_ , he would have told Joey - hell, boasted, bragged to anyone who would listen - about the best sex he'd ever had. But, Monica? No way.

"Aw, man, come on," Joey whined. "You gotta give me _something_."

"She is your friend!" he shot back, getting more and more agitated with each passing second.

"My _hot_ friend," Joey said as Chandler shot him a narrow, pointed stare, which Joey completely ignored. "I mean, I'd be lying if I said I'd never thought…"

"You finish that sentence, I'll break your face," Chandler seethed with out-of-nowhere bravado, smoke practically coming out of his ears now.

"Whoa, OK, OK, sorry," Joey said, putting his hands up in surrender, caught a little off guard by Chandler's last comment. They sat next to each other in a very uncomfortable silence for a couple moments, Joey looking down as Chandler cleared his throat a couple times.

"So…are you guys together now, or…?" Joey finally asked. Chandler cocked his head to the side and gave him a withering look. Joey put his hands up again.

"Look, I'm just asking as a friend, OK?" he said. "I mean, ya know, if it's just a hook-up then, well, then, ya know, I can understand that."

Chandler furrowed his brow.

"I mean, if you're _together_ together I can…I guess I can see that, too," he said, shrugging, unsure of how to back off from the question his friend clearly did not want to answer.

"So?" Joey asked, raising his eyebrows as his curiosity got the better of him.

"Ah…ah…" Chandler started a couple times, then finally took a deep breath and looked Joey straight in the eye. "I don't know, Joey. Now Let. It. Go. OK?!"

"Yeah, OK, I'm sorry," he said, and he partially meant it. He knew he'd pushed Chandler too far, but he was dying to get details because the more he thought about it, the more he thought Rachel was right. This _was_ a big deal, and he was worried. Rachel flew halfway across the world to try to stop Ross from marrying Emily because she was still in love with him, and they'd been broken up for more than a year.

Joey glanced at Chandler, who was staring at the seatback in front of him. It was hard enough to watch Ross and Rachel go through their "break." Joey couldn't imagine Chandler and Monica going through something similar if they did try dating. He honestly thought it would hurt even more, and completely devastate their whole group.

Chandler felt Joey's eyes on him, and he was tired of being under a microscope.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to go down the aisle before Joey even had a chance to acknowledge he was leaving his seat.

Chandler's eyes scanned the passengers as he made his way back to the bathroom, but he didn't see Monica. He stopped outside the little door when he noticed the lock was flipped to "occupied." He sighed and put his hands behind his back, leaning against the wall opposite the lavatory. Joey knew, so that meant Rachel definitely knew he and Monica had spent at least one night together.

So much for keeping their little fling a secret.

Chandler opened his eyes as he heard someone moving inside the bathroom door and stared at the lock, asking himself almost the same questions Joey had. Was what happened between them just a fling? She _was_ pretty drunk when she showed up at his hotel room after the rehearsal dinner debacle. But if that was just a drunken hook-up, then what was last night? They were stone cold sober and the sex was just as spectacular, if not better, than the night before.

Chandler stood up straighter as the door to the bathroom opened up, and out stepped the woman who hadn't left his mind for the last 48 hours.

Monica looked up, briefly startled to see him standing right in front of her. She'd intended to just brush past whomever was next in line and return to her seat, close her eyes, and continue to playback every moment of the last two nights in her head. And, now, here he was.

"Hey," she said softly, a small catch in her voice as her throat suddenly went dry.

"Hey," he said just as softly, forgetting his own internal strife and abundant anxiety as he looked into her wide eyes. Chandler took a step closer to her, his gaze briefly leaving hers to size up the airplane bathroom behind her. He licked his lips, then looked back to her. Monica smirked, grabbed his shirt in her fist and pulled him inside.

She was barely able to pull the door closed behind him before his lips landed on hers. Monica clutched at his back as his hands ran up to hold her head. She moaned into his mouth, the thoughts she'd been having throughout the flight, throughout the last two days, stimulating every one of her senses.

This was incredible. Kissing him was absolutely incredible.

Monica actually saw sparks shoot out behind her eyelids as their arms changed position, her hands now wrapped around his shoulders as his wrapped around her back. Her jaw dropped and she let out a deep sigh as his lips went to her neck.

"I want you," he whispered in a raspy voice between gentle sucks on her tender skin. "I want you so much."

"I want you, too," she breathed as he cupped her breast in one hand making her take in a sharp breath, then let it out slowly. "Oh, God, Chandler…"

His lips captured hers again just as a knock came from outside the door.

"Excuse me," said a voice they didn't recognize, and initially ignored as they continued kissing. The knock was stronger the second time.

"Sir, madam," the woman said, more sternly this time. "Excuse me!"

They pulled apart, both turning to look at the door, then back at each other, trying to catch their breath. Monica started to giggle as Chandler smirked at her.

"Sir, madam?"

"In a minute!" Chandler said loudly as he rolled his eyes. Monica placed a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Oh," she said quietly, straightening up and smoothing first her dress, then her hair as Chandler's hands fell to his sides. "It's kinda tight in here anyway."

"Yeah," he said, now running his fingers through his hair. She smiled at the slightly embarrassed look on his adorable face. She patted his cheek and gave him a reassuring smile.

"We're not a couple of horny teenagers, ya know," she said softy.

"Well, you got the teenager part right," he said with a smirk, and she giggled.

"We're two consenting adults," she said with a slight nod. "It's not like our little secret can get us into trouble with anyone…other than the flight attendant, apparently."

She smiled as she gestured toward the door, but frowned when he didn't return it.

Chandler sighed. Well, he thought, now was as good a time as any to completely ruin the moment.

"Joey knows," he said, with a wince. Monica stared at him blankly.

"Excuse me!" said the woman outside the door. Again.

"In a minute!" Monica shouted, then added in a whisper looking into Chandler's defeated face. "What?!"

"Joey knows," Chandler said, miserably, then added with more animation, "and if he knows, you _know_ Rachel knows and…and God only knows who else…"

"I know!" Monica said hotly, putting her palms on her cheeks. "So, what did he…"

Before Monica could finish her sentence the unlocked door to the bathroom flew open, two very aggravated, but surprised flight attendants waiting on the other side. They expected to find their passengers in a much more compromising position than they did.

Monica and Chandler looked at each other one more moment before Monica turned and smiled tightly at the two women.

"I'm going," she said to them, with a wave of her hand. Then, with one more look at Chandler she started to make her way back to her seat. The flight attendants turned to Chandler, who gestured to the open door.

"Do you mind?!" he said in a haughty voice, then closed the bathroom door behind him and locked it. He leaned back against the little sink, pinched his closed eyes with his fingertips and sighed heavily, his thoughts very much occupied.

It was already getting complicated.

 _ **NOTE: I have to say, this is kinda fun - tension minus large helpings of angst ;) Thank you so very much for your reviews!**_


	4. Chapter 4

Monica took a deep breath as she stepped up onto the landing and looked to her closed apartment door, Joey and Chandler right behind her.

Following their encounter in the airplane bathroom, the rest of the long flight back to New York had been uneventful. Joey stuck to Chandler like glue, but whatever Chandler had told him had shut him up enough not to ask either of them any questions as they disembarked the plane. Conversation between the three had been strained at best as they waded through baggage claim and customs, and it was non-existent during the cab ride back to their building.

Monica caught Chandler's eye several times, and visa versa, but Joey's presence made any real conversation impossible. Joey could feel the rising tension between them and finally started to feel a little guilty about it as he handed Monica's bag back to her at the top of the stairs.

"Thanks," she mumbled, taking it from him. She glanced at Chandler, his overnight bag in one hand and the garment bag holding their rented tuxes and her dress in the other. Joey cleared his throat.

"I'm gonna go check on Chick and Duck," he nodded, nervously, then pulled out his keys as Monica and Chandler watched him open the door to Apartment 19 then pull it almost closed behind him, leaving it slightly ajar for his roommate.

Chandler turned to Monica and, a little shyly, they grinned at one another .

"Well," Chandler said, clearing his throat a couple times. "We're back."

"Yes we are," Monica said, fiddling with the handle of her suitcase. "Looks like the place is still standing."

"So far," he said, nodding toward her apartment. "What do you think they…?"

"I don't know," Monica said cutting him off, her stomach feeling exceptionally queasy.

Chandler nodded, swallowing hard, nervous out of his mind. Suddenly he felt like someone had hit a "rewind" button. They were back home, in their regular place with their regular hyper-close group of friends all around them. In that moment, the romance of London seemed far away as he thought about the reality that loomed before them. He gestured toward her closed apartment door.

"Do you want me to come in and…and…" he said, shaking the garment bag in his hand.

"Oh, God, no," Monica said quickly. The last thing she wanted was him to walk into the onslaught of questions that awaited her on the other side of the door. She was sure that Rachel, who _had_ gotten on an earlier flight, and a very pregnant Phoebe were ready to pounce. It would be hard enough to try to explain to them what happened between her and Chandler. It would be even more difficult if he was standing right next to her, especially since she didn't have a clue herself what was going to happen next.

Chandler furrowed his brow, taken aback by her definitive response. What did _that_ mean, he thought? Damn, what did _any_ of it mean?

OK," he said slowly, then harkened back to the original intent of his question. "Do you want to get your dress out of the bag here? In the hall? Or…"

"Oh!" she said, her face turning red as she realized too late what he was asking, trying to shrug nonchalantly. "I'm sorry, I…yeah, ah, I'll…I'll just get it from you later."

"OK," he said, with a little nod. He glanced up at the door then back at her, "and, uh, later we can…"

"Talk," she nodded after he left the unasked question hanging in the air. "We can…talk."

Talk. Yeah, that's _exactly_ what he wanted to do, he thought, but it was true that's probably what they definitely _needed_ to do.

"OK," he finally said one more time, taking a step back from her.

"OK," she said as she smiled a little at him, her heart thundering in her chest. She glanced at his barely open apartment door. Once he went inside, she thought sadly, the spell was broken. How badly broken was the only question in her mind.

Her eyes started to fill with tears but he didn't realize it as he diverted his eyes and smiled back at her then turned to his door.

"Chandler?" she said, her voice trembling, wanting to hang on to their moment for just one more minute. He turned, raising his eyebrows.

"I…I…" she started, then she sighed. "Thank you."

Chandler searched her face, not sure if that was all she was going to say or not. After a moment he gave her a sad little grin.

"For?" he asked, his eyes looking for any sign, anything that would tell him what she was thinking.

She took a deep breath, stood up a little straighter and blinked a couple times, trying to keep her emotions under control.

"Everything," she said, in a flatter tone than she meant to. She was only trying to keep herself from crying, but it sounded like the end of "everything" to him. His face fell ever so briefly before he regained his composure.

"You're welcome," he whispered, diverting his eyes once again as he pushed the apartment door wider and let himself inside. He sat his overnight bag down on the floor and looked back out into the hall. Monica was watching him and she hadn't moved. She had a worried expression on her face so he gave her a soft, reassuring grin.

"I'll see you later," he said.

"OK," she said with a little nod, her hands folded in front of her dress, her voice thick.

With one more nod he closed the door, then turned and leaned up against it. He squeezed his eyes shut, and with every fiber of his being, hoped to find himself back in his London hotel room when he opened them again. He didn't want to be back in New York. He wanted to be there. He wanted to be in London. He wanted to return to their fantasy world. He wanted to see her glowing face and her red dress and her soft smile when he opened his eyes.

With one more tight squeeze he opened them, only to find Joey five feet from him, Chick in his hands and a disgusted look on his face.

"Duck threw up in the bathroom and this one here was picking at…it's gross, come see," Joey motioned toward the bathroom as Chick started making loud, gag-like sounds.

Chandler dropped his head, folded the garment bag over one of the kitchen stools, and sighed as he followed Joey into the bathroom.

Back to reality, indeed.

###

Monica wiped any trace of tears from her eyes then took a deep breath as she opened the door to her apartment.

Immediately Phoebe turned her head from her spot on the couch.

"Hey!" she said, giving Monica a big smile. "You're home!"

"Yeah," Monica said, returning her smile as she sat down her bags. She took a glance around the room.

"Is Rachel not back yet?" she asked, a little nervously.

"She's sleeping," Phoebe said, gesturing toward Rachel's room with the book she'd been reading, then added with a shrug. "Jet lag."

"Ah," Monica said, nodding, thinking that jet lag would be as good an excuse as any to go to her own room, lay down on her bed and try to put her thoughts and feelings in some kind of order, if that was at all possible.

"Come here!" Phoebe said excitedly, trying to sit up a little more to accommodate Monica on the sofa. "Tell me all about it! I want to hear all the good stuff now. I've already heard the bad stuff."

"Bad stuff?" Monica asked, reluctantly walking over to her. She gave Phoebe a hug then sat down beside her.

"Yeah," Phoebe said, rolling her eyes toward Rachel's room, then adding in a lower voice. "She's already told me how horrible it was for _her_. I want to hear how fun it was for everyone else."

"Whatta mean?" Monica said, as she tucked a falling strand of hair behind her ear. Phoebe was looking at her so curiously that it was very unnerving.

"Monica, I wasn't there," she said. "Was it romantic? Twinkling lights? Was there _love_ in the air?"

Phoebe said the last part with such emphasis that Monica narrowed her eyes at her, but her pregnant friend didn't flinch. Instead she patiently waited for Monica to reply, never taking her eyes off her.

"It was a wedding," Monica said with a shrug before she stood up to go get a bottled water from the fridge. "Ya know, Ross and Emily got married and it was, fine, it was all really…lovely."

"Fine? Lovely?" Phoebe said, disgruntled. She eyed her suspiciously. "Look, Monica, I was kinda counting on you to give me the details."

"About?" Monica said as innocently as she could.

"Everything!" Phoebe said. Monica diverted her eyes and was quiet. Phoebe pursed her lips.

OK," she said, trying again. "Let's start at the beginning. Tell me what happened with the church again?"

Monica sat back down on the couch, handing Phoebe her own bottle of water, and took a deep breath. She began to explain about how the church Ross and Emily were to be married in was being torn down; about how upset Emily was and her thoughts about postponing the wedding. Then Monica went on about how she and Ross turned the pile of bricks into a scene right out of a fairytale with only moments to spare before they all had to rush back to the hotel and prepare for the rehearsal dinner. She told Phoebe how homesick Joey was and how badly Chandler bombed his best man speech.

Phoebe howled with laughter at the thought of that as Monica inwardly cringed. She conveniently left out the part about the drunk guy thinking she was Ross's mother. She didn't tell Phoebe that she herself got so drunk she went out pathetically looking for sex, after Chandler had tried his best to talk her off the ledge all night and dropped her off at her hotel room.

She didn't mention how she went to his hotel room looking for his roommate, for a quicky - just something to make her feel better and somewhat desirable before she stumbled back to her own room and passed out. Instead she found Chandler, sweet Chandler in his ridiculous pjs, telling her she was the most beautiful woman in the room. She didn't tell Phoebe how she launched herself at him, and then how he spent the next several hours making her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.

Monica didn't tell her any of that, because she knew she shouldn't and because sitting in her apartment in New York, where everything remained the same and time seemed to have stopped a week ago, their time together had begun to feel like nothing more than a glorious dream.

"The reception was their house, right? The Walthams?" Phoebe asked, bringing Monica back to the godforsaken present once again.

"Yeah," she mumbled out.

"Oh, and was there dancing?" Phoebe asked, barely able to mask her excitement now. "Eww…you didn't have to dance with Chandler, did you?"

Monica swallowed hard, closed her eyes and nodded.

"Sorry you had to do that," Phoebe said, squishing up her face but keeping her eyes wide open, searching for any reaction from Monica. She wasn't disappointed as she watched her friend's face turn soft, even as her eyes showed a hint of anger as they looked at her friend.

"It wasn't that _bad_ ," she said, a little fire in her voice. "He's a good dancer." Phoebe raised her eyebrows at that.

"It was…it was," Monica started as she suddenly began twisting a ring on her right hand.

"Lovely?" Phoebe deadpanned.

"Yes," Monica said, jerking back from her slightly. "Yes, it was."

"And the kissing, was that lovely, too?" Phoebe asked, fully smirking now. Monica looked sharply at her.

"What?!"

"The kissing? Kissing Chandler. Was that lovely, too?" Phoebe said again, her face full of doubtful curiosity. Monica's face was instantly overcome with a deep blush

"I don't know what you're…" Monica started.

"Oh, yes you do!" she heard Rachel say loudly as she opened her bedroom door. It was clear she hadn't been sleeping at all and had been eavesdropping on their conversation the whole time.

"Rachel!" Monica almost yelled as she stood up and glared at her roommate. She knew it was a set-up!

"I saw you, Mon," she said. "I saw you and Chandler at the reception! You two were kissing like there was no tomorrow. Then, then...back at the hotel…"

"What about the hotel?!" Monica interrupted, her voice full of anxiety as she crossed her arms against herself.

"Mon," Rachel said, throwing up her hands. "We have been roommates for four years, and the walls are pretty thin! I know how loud you get when you…you, you know…"

"Oh, God," Monica moaned miserably as she sunk back down onto the couch, her hands briefly covering her face. Then she looked up at Rachel, fury in her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything this morning?!"

"I asked her not to," Phoebe said, almost giddy from all the excitement. "I wanted to see if you'd admit it."

"Admit what?" Monica asked, confused.

"That you've been dating Chandler behind our backs!" Phoebe said, smile on her face, but it faltered as Monica gasped out loud.

"I'm not…we're not, we haven't been..." Monica said, burying her head back in her hands. Oh, God…

"What?" Phoebe asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "You haven't been dating Chandler?"

Phoebe and Rachel exchanged a curious but worried look as Monica remained silent.

"You're _not_ dating?" Rachel asked again. Monica just shook her head, still not looking at either woman. "Are you just, sleeping with him?"

Monica shook her head again, then shrugged, finally looking up at them both.

"It just…happened in London, OK?" she said quietly as Rachel took a seat on the coffee table opposite her and Phoebe. "I was…we were just swept up, I guess, in the, I don't know, romance of it all and it just…it happened."

Rachel crossed her arms as Phoebe looked at Monica with a critical eye. There was much more to the look on Monica's face than just hooking up at a wedding with a friend.

"Was it…was he, ah, any good?" Rachel asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Monica looked at her, then back at Phoebe, who she could tell was just as curious. She sighed again, then flung herself back against the couch, hands once more over her face.

"Oh my God, yes," she breathed out, trying hard to keep her emotions at bay.

Rachel took a deep breath, casting a shocked look at Phoebe, who look equally as surprised.

"Well, then, I mean what does this mean?!" Phoebe asked, eyes wide. "This is huge!"

"Oh, I don't know," Monica said wearily.

"Are you guys dating now?" Rachel said, breathlessly. "I mean it's Chandler. Are you guys together or…?"

"I…I don't know," she replied, finally looking into their anxious faces, knowing the questions were just going to keep coming. And she only had one answer to give.

"I just don't know."


	5. Chapter 5

Chandler took the rented tuxes out of the garment bag and threw them on the top of his bed. He sighed, shaking his head.

 _Just do it,_ he thought to himself. _Go over there and ask her how we do this. Where do we go from here?_

But truth be told, he wasn't sure if there was a way forward for them, or if she'd even want a "them." Coming home seemed to pour of large bucket of ice water on their burgeoning romance, extinguishing a flame that burned red hot just a day before. It felt to Chandler like they'd gone off on this wild, sexy adventure only to slip right into their regular roles as best friends and nothing more once the plane landed in New York.

Could they put it behind them? Did she want to? Did he? Could he?

Still lost in thought he opened up the garment bag once again. Her red dress was the only other item of clothing left inside. He almost reverently pulled it out of the bag and hung it from the top on the back of his closet door, gently shaking it out as the fabric cascaded down toward the floor.

Chandler slowly ran his fingers along the dress, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He remembered exactly how electrifying it felt to feel her hot skin underneath the material.

God, it smelled like her - her perfume and her body, just the way it had in London when he'd hastily pulled it off of her before they made love.

"Geez, man," Joey said from his spot in the open doorway of the bedroom, arms crossed in front of him and a bemused look on his face. Chandler jumped at the sound of Joey's voice and quickly turned to his roommate, his face bright red.

"What?!" he said quickly, trying to act pissed and not like a school boy caught thinking naughty thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, 'what?'" Joey repeated, dismissively. "Could you want her more?!"

"What?" Chandler repeated, clearly flummoxed. Quickly he grabbed the dress off the door and shoved it into the garment bag, almost getting it caught in the zipper as he hurried to close it. Joey sighed and shook his head.

"OK, look I'll take the tuxes back," he said, pointing to the garment bag. "You take this back to her."

He picked up the bag and forced it into Chandler's hands.

"Dude, talk to her," Joey said. "OK? Don't be your normal, 'do nothing' self. Something big happened between you two in London. You want to let it go? Pretend it didn't happen?"

Chandler looked at the bag then back at Joey. He shook his head.

"Good cause, Dude, I'm tellin' ya, _everyone_ saw something was happening with you two at the reception," he said with a cheeky grin. Chandler moaned and crossed his arms over the bag.

"Better go get your one-night-stand stories straight," he said, nodding toward the girls' apartment. Chandler couldn't help but smirk, though he tried his best to hide it.

"What?" Joey said, taking a step closer to him as he noticed the look on his friend's face. "Wait! It was more than _one_ night?"

Chandler ran his palm along the back of his neck, his head dropped, but he glanced up at Joey's surprised expression and grinned wider.

"Oh, man, come on!" Joey said, on the edge of his seat, dying to hear more. "You haven't told me anything! Come on, you gotta tell me something! It was, wasn't it? It was more than one night!"

"Yeah," Chandler said quietly after a moment's hesitation, then he cleared his throat, not willing to give Joey too much more.

"Oh my God! Are you serious?" Joey said, eyes bugging out of his head. "Chandler! This is huge!"

"No, Joey, just stop it, OK," Chandler said, wishing for all the world he could have kept the smile off his face as he recalled their nights together in London, but he just couldn't.

"So this has been going on a while," Joey said, still trying his best to fish for information.

"No! No," Chandler said, his face getting warmer as he quickly shook his head back and forth. "Just London. It…it happened in London."

"Maybe it should happen in New York, too," Joey said suggestively, but Chandler looked away from his friend. Maybe? Maybe, he thought.

"I don't know," he said, under his breath, but Joey heard him.

"You don't know?!" Joey exclaimed. "Dude, you gotta talk to her."

Chandler looked down.

"If you don't then I will!" Joey said, determined look on his face as he started to stride out of the bedroom.

"No!" Chandler said, panicked, as he took a couple quick steps and grabbed his roommate's arm. That's _just_ what he needed - for Joey to run interference.

"You gonna do it?" Joey said, looking at him skeptically. Chandler sighed deeply and Joey raised his eyebrows at him.

"Yes," Chandler said finally. "OK, yes."

"Now?"

"Yeah, Ok, now," Chandler said with an edge to his voice. "What's with the third degree?"

Joey didn't say any more, stretching out his arm with a stern look on his face and pointing to the girls' apartment. Chandler took a deep breath, giving Joey a dirty look in the process and walked past him across the living room. Instantly Joey was on his heels. Right before Chandler opened the apartment door, he turned around.

"What are you doing?" he asked, completely aggravated now. "What about taking back the tuxes?"

"I will," Joey said, with a giddy grin as he gestured once again toward the door, "after."

Chandler groaned then shook his head and opened the door.

###

Monica sat on the edge of her bed, motionless, feeling like an old sock that had just gone through the wringer. Rachel and Phoebe had questioned her for 20 solid minutes. Twenty minutes that left her with no more answers than she'd had before she got home, just more questions for her heart to stress over…

 _Did he joke around the whole time?_

 _Was he, like, romantic?_

 _Did it mean anything?_

 _What did you feel?_

 _Do you know how he feels?_

 _Commitment isn't his strong suit, you know._

 _You've been friends forever._

 _What if I didn't work out?_

 _What if it did?_

 _Take me and Ross for example…_

Monica closed her eyes, the pounding in her head getting stronger as the last few days began to catch up with her. She was exhausted, confused and, really, the only person she wanted to talk to was across the hall and she would have to dance through three human landmines to get to him.

She heard the door to the apartment open and she jerked her head up, a little smile coming to her lips when she heard the new voices on the other side…

"Pheebs!" Joey bellowed as he walked over to the couch and gave her a hug. "We missed you!"

"Oh, I missed you, too," she said, squeezing him back as Rachel smiled at them from the chair. Chandler grinned, but his insides were churning. He looked from Phoebe to Rachel and back again. Just how much did they know? Did they know anything?

"Chandler?" Phoebe asked from the sofa and he look up to see both her and Rachel knowingly smirking at him. Well, he thought bitterly, that answered that question.

"Hey Pheebs," he said, walking over and bending down to kiss her cheek. "Either you're still pregnant or you have a hot-air balloon under your dress."

Phoebe rolled her eyes, stopping herself from saying the comeback she had on the tip of her tongue. She wasn't going to let him change the subject.

"Yes, nothing new happened to _me_ over the last four days," she asked pointedly. "And what about _you_? Any _news_ to share?"

His eyes flicked from hers to Rachel's then Joey's as his heart started to race.

"T-to share?" he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, even as his face began to burn red. "Nope, can't say that I do. No."

"Oh, come on!" Rachel said, jumping to her feet. "We already know."

"Know what?" he asked as innocently as he could. Rachel threw her hands in the air.

"About you and…."

Just then the door to the bedroom door opened and Monica walked out, stopping Rachel in mid-sentence. Chandler's eyes immediately met hers.

"I, uh," Rachel said as she cleared her throat, her eyes dashing between Monica and Chandler. "I thought you were resting."

Monica's eyes left Chandler's just long enough to send Rachel an "are you kidding me?" glare before they locked with his again. She looked as tired and weary as he felt and at that moment the one and only thing he wanted to do was hold her.

And that thought completely blindsided him.

Wanting to comfort Monica was certainly nothing new to him, he'd done it for years. He had always hated to see her upset, especially since she was usually the one trying to cheer everyone else up with a positive thought or a fresh baked batch of cookies. And, selfishly he had to admit if Monica wasn't happy a cloud seemed to hang over the whole group, and he was generally desperate just to get things back to normal. But this feeling, this feeling that he just wanted to hold her because he had this overwhelming urge to take her pain away, was completely new to him.

He swallowed hard, oblivious to the slack-jawed expressions of all their friends as they looked from one to the other. Never had the air between them felt so thick it was palatable to everyone.

"Is that my dress?" Monica asked, pointing weakly to the garment bag in Chandler's arms. Her mouth had gone completely dry, the tension in the room almost too much for her. She wished everyone would just disappear. Everyone but Chandler.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, walking toward her. "I can…ah, I can hang it up for you, if you want."

She was just about to say she'd take care of it when she read the expression on his face. He was as anxious to be out of the sight of their friends as she was, so she nodded. Relieved, Chandler followed her into the bedroom and Monica closed the door behind them.

Chandler turned around and sighed.

"They know," he said softly.

"Oh yeah," she said, nodding her head. "They know."

Chandler looked to the floor and shuffled his feet as Monica bit her thumbnail and glanced at the closed door, feeling like their friends' prying eyes had x-ray vision. He started pacing the floor, then finally looked at her, throwing his hands to his sides, bag still draped over his arm.

"Whatta we gonna do now, huh?" he asked quickly but quietly. "Huh? Huh?"

"I don't know, freak out, I guess," she shot back at him, her own nerves already frayed. He sighed heavily again and looked away at the wall, folding his arms across his chest. They stood in silence for a couple moments, neither having a clue how to start the conversation they both knew was coming,

"I, ah, I'll hang this up," Chandler finally said, clearing his throat and glancing at her as he turned toward her closet. She nodded.

"Oh, sure, yeah," she said as she walked over, too, both of them reaching for the doorknob at the same time, their hands colliding, his over hers.

Monica's pulse took off as they turned the doorknob together, her breathing becoming shallow as Chandler grasped her hand in his after they'd opened the door. With one hand he quickly hung up the bag then pushed closed the door, never letting go of Monica's hand.

She squeezed his fingers reassuringly, trying to hold onto some kind of closeness with him. Needing that badly, though she couldn't explain why. She could feel the heat coming off his body and up until a few days ago that warmth would just have given her a cozy feeling. It was comforting, when they'd sit close together on the sofa or in a chair. Now, having him so close made her feel like her whole body was made of wax and she was melting.

"Where do we go from here?" he asked slowly, sincerely this time, looking into her eyes and trying to find the answer he wanted there, yet bracing himself for the one he didn't want. She briefly glanced at the door and he knew what she was thinking. Their friends were right outside and hadn't moved an inch, unless it was press their ears against the door.

"I don't know," Monica sighed gently, honestly, searching his face. "Do you…do you think you want to go…somewhere from here?"

He grinned slowly and nodded.

"I think so," he whispered, gripping her hand a little tighter. "Do you?"

She smiled softly at him and nodded.

"Yeah," she breathed, taking another step toward him. Chandler took a shaky breath, then he grinned at her, relieved. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what step to take next. He looked into her hopeful, expectant face and took a deep breath.

"You wanna try, maybe, going on a real date?" he asked, pensively, but to her surprise she smiled.

"Like a dinner and a movie kinda thing?" she asked, a little sparkle in her eyes.

"Yeah, something like that," he said with a shrug, then he added. "Of course I believe I tried this last year and got shot down pretty badly."

She relaxed a little and rolled her eyes, squeezing his fingers. He winked at her and she smirked at him.

"That was…before," she said, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Yeah," he said, bringing a free finger to the blush, slowly running it down her face across her jawline then adding in a whisper. "That was before…"

She swallowed hard, her eyes searching his. Then she felt his hand give hers one more squeeze.

"How's Friday?" he said as he backed away a little. She frowned in confusion.

"But it's only Monday," she said.

"I know," he said with a little grin, "but I need a couple days to plan."

"Oh yeah?" she said, her whole face lighting up, making his grin deepen.

"Yeah."

"OK," she said then bit her lip before she added, "maybe we just kinda cool it until then, huh?"

She gestured toward the closed door and he nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed, glancing in the same direction. "May save us from, ya know, more questions. Maybe?"

"Yeah," she nodded again. "We'll just tell them the truth. We're going to go out on a date and see, ah, where this is going."

"Right," he said, taking another step back and clearing his throat. "Exactly."

Their fingers stayed entwined until their arms were stretched to the limit. She stood still as their hands dropped and he reached for the knob of her bedroom door, his eyes never leaving hers.

"So, it's a date," he said, "and we'll see where…this is going."

"It's a date," she smiled back at him. He nodded, then grinned and turned the door knob.

"Chandler?" she said softly before he swung open the door.

"Yeah," he asked turning to her. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, his heart thundering in his chest.

She took a deep breath and let out a shaky sigh.

"I sure like where it has been," she said quietly. She blushed again, and this time he did, too.

"Me, too, Mon," he said with a shy grin as he slowly opened the door. "Me, too."

 _ **NOTE: I am so, so sorry for the delay in posting updates to this fic and "Girl Crush." Full time publications director, full time wife, full time mother, there's just a lot on my plate these days, but I won't leave either unfinished. I promise. Actually this one is just a few chapters away from being complete. I've already written the last chapter and epilogue (which I must say kinda both make me swoon) so I will get there. Just stay with me.**_

 _ **Thank you, always, for your loyal support and your wonderful reviews! :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chandler smacked his forehead as his elbow hit the tabletop with a thud.

He rubbed his palm down his face, then stared wide-eyed at the tablecloth and shook his head.

"Could this night _be_ any more horrible?" he thought.

Nope. No, he really didn't think it could and it was all Joey's fault. Well, not really, but Chandler was looking to lay blame somewhere for what should have been the most magical night ever and instead turned into a colossal mess.

He glanced toward the restroom hallway, where Monica had taken off in a flash just moments earlier, his apologies splitting the air of the crowded restaurant like broken glass. All eyes were staring at them, at him. After she'd disappeared into the women's restroom he glared back at the other diners then sunk back into his chair. That was a good five minutes ago.

Chandler's eyes darted around for the waiter. He was ready for this night to end and knew the moment Monica emerged from the restroom, she would be, too.

And the week had started so wonderfully.

They'd both kept their cool, keeping it casual and friendly between them all week. He had to fight some serious urges to sneak into her apartment in the middle of the night, or run into her living room for a quick kiss after work, but he fought them - her sly glances and simple smiles meant only for him assuring him that she was looking as forward to tonight as he was.

And now…

"Maybe she went out a window," he thought miserably, knowing full-well that was one way a woman who wanted to flee could easily escape. Chandler squeezed his eyes closed, cupped his forehead in his palm and sighed heavily.

After thinking up about a half-dozen quirky, yet he thought creative ways to take Monica on their first date he made the mistake of talking to Joey about them. A picnic in Central Park? _Not enough_. A moonlight cruise on the Hudson? _Too much_. Dinner and a play. _Boring, unless it was one of Joey's plays_. He'd cook her dinner. _She's a chef_. He'd cater in dinner. That one Joey thought had potential, since they'd be in close proximity to a bedroom, but Chandler wasn't really wild about the idea of an apartment date.

Not that he minded ending up in one of their bedrooms by the end of the evening, but he didn't want it to look like he'd set out to end the night that way. He wanted more. He wanted her to know he wanted more, but he wasn't sure what exactly to do to get that point across besides drag her back to a bedroom. Yet they'd both decided they wanted to take it slow - or at least slower than it had been.

Plus, an apartment date left them open to even more scrutiny than they'd already been under all week, and the further the week progressed, the more anxious he became. By Thursday he didn't have a solid plan, and he was beginning to doubt himself, which was never a good place for his mind to go.

Seeing this Joey, convinced Chandler was going to "screw it up," called in reinforcements…

" _Stick with what you know will work_ , _" Joey pleaded. Chandler caught Rachel's enthusiastic nods of agreement out of the corner of his eye._

 _"Whatta mean?" Chandler asked, glaring at them both._

 _"Look who the woman has dated, man!" Joey said, gesturing with his hands. "Her last boyfriend was_ Richard _, for crying out loud! Remember him?"_

 _"Of course I…Joey!" Chandler said, beginning to pace around his living room. He ran a palm down the back of his head. After Rachel had also shot down all his own ideas, they now both seemed hell-bent in making him more nervous than he already was. It wasn't as though he and Monica had any trouble being together, in every single way, in London, but Richard's wining-and-dining ways were a valid point. How, exactly, was he supposed to fill those shoes?_

 _"Richard wasn't her last boyfriend," Rachel said suddenly. "It was Pete Becker."_

 _Chandler groaned - great, the millionaire. On their first date he'd flown her to Italy. Actual Italy!_

 _"Oh, that's right," Joey said, eyes widening at Chandler. "I forgot about Pete. Now there's no question about it - nice place, expensive place, her favorite place, her favorite wine…"_

 _Rachel was nodding along excitedly._

 _"So…Big Macs and the best boxed wine 20 bucks can buy, right?" he deadpanned, trying to hide how anxious they were making him._

 _"No, no, none of that!" Rachel snapped at him, literally, causing Chandler to blink in surprise._

 _"What?!" he said, raising his hands in surrender. "Look, I think I know what her favorites are, Rach, I've only known her forever."_

 _"No," she said, casting him a stern look and waving a hand at him. "No, I mean no joking! None of your, ya know, annoying sarcastic-ness."_

 _"No…now, wait a minute…." he said, starting to defend himself._

 _"She's right, dude," Joey said, nodding as he walked toward him, arms crossed with a serious look on his face. "If you want this to work you gotta, ya know, you gotta convince her you're serious."_

 _Chandler looked wide-eyed from Joey to Rachel and back again._

 _"Hey, it's…it's just one date guys," he said betraying his nervousness, scrunching up his shoulders and starting to pace again. "It's not like I'm asking her to marry me or something…"_

 _"Yeah, but it's one date you want to get right," Rachel said, putting her hand on his arm. "This first date, it could tell you everything."_

 _"But I already know…everything," he countered. He did, didn't he? "I mean, everything about her. I mean, I do. Right?"_

 _"Not everything," Rachel replied, shaking her head a little. "You guys are great friends, really great friends and, yeah you slept together in London, but taking that next step into a true relationship…well, it changes things. Believe me."_

 _Rachel bit her lip and took a step back, crossing her arms and looking away from them. Joey cast her a sympathetic glance then raised his eyebrows at Chandler, who swallowed hard. He remembered very well how happy Ross and Rachel were until Ross's jealousy drove them apart._

 _Chandler understood jealously. He understood it all too well. It's what drove he and Kathy apart, as justifiable as it turned out to be._

 _For a long time Ross and Rachel couldn't stand to be in the same room together, and there was no telling how completely devastated he'd be - they'd both be - if anything like that ever happened between him and Monica…_

Chandler tapped his foot and glanced at his watch just as Monica emerged from the bathroom, crossing her arms awkwardly in front of her once beautiful, light salmon-colored dress. Chandler winced then cleared his throat.

"I am so, so…"

"I know, Chandler," Monica said quickly, her face turning a deeper shade of red, almost matching the large red wine stain and matching droplet marks that made their way all the way down the front of her, ruining the outfit.

"It's OK," she said wearily as she sat back down in her seat. He gave her a small smile, which she returned, though she struggled mightily to do so.

She was trying hard, oh so hard, not to freak out about the spill, the accident, the whole night. She'd tried to keep things light, "breezy" as to not pressure him. All week the girls had told her to relax, to not go all "Monica" and put a lot of unrealistic expectations on him or their first date…

 _"Monica, this is Chandler we're talking about, OK?" Phoebe said from her seemingly permanent seat on their living room sofa as she shifted her big belly toward the back of the couch. "One little 'I could see us being together forever' and he's gonna run for the hills."_

 _"I don't know about that," Monica said, furrowing her brow as she made dinner for the girls the night before their date. "He was pretty serious with Kathy, remember?"_

 _Phoebe shrugged, still convinced that even hinting at something serious would make Chandler have second thoughts. Monica, however, felt a small pang of jealousy when she remembered how in love he was with Kathy. Could she ever hope he'd feel that way about her? Did she want him to?_

 _"Mon, all we're saying is, ya know, dial it down a little, OK?" Rachel said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. "No talking about babies or…or weddings or things like that, ya know. Just be like, ya know, "whatever."_

 _"'Whatever?'" she repeated, putting her hand on her hip as she turned to Rachel, a bemused look on her face._

 _"Yeah," Rachel said. "You've gotta make him think this whole dating thing is just, ya know, no big deal, no pressure."_

 _"Yeah, yeah," added Phoebe enthusiastically. "Make him think commitment is the furthest thing from your mind."_

 _"Guys, come on," Monica said, turning back to the stove and quickly stirring her sauce again, trying to get the image of she and Chandler's sure-to-be gorgeous babies out of her head. She added nervously, "it's one date, it's not, ya know…forever…it's, it's just a date."_

 _Rachel watched Monica's shoulders shrug. She turned and smirked at Phoebe, then turned her attention back to Monica._

 _"You're thinking of what pretty babies you'll have, aren't you?" she said, narrowing her bemused eyes at her. Monica dropped the spoon and turned to her in a flash, mouth agape but not fully able to keep the smile off her face._

 _"I was not!" she said, as her smile widened._

 _"See, this," Rachel said, pointing at her, "this right here is what I'm talking about! You've been friends a long time. He knows you, he knows how your mind works!"_

 _"She's right," Phoebe said, nodding to emphasize her agreement. "He so much as gets a whiff that you've got commitment, marriage and babies on the brain it's 'game over.'"_

 _Monica crossed her arms and sighed._

 _"I mean, honey, he probably already thinks you have China patterns picked out," Rachel said. Monica rolled her eyes._

 _"You gotta convince him you don't care about having 'a future' with him," Phoebe said, glancing back at the magazine in her hands. "No pressure."_

 _Monica shuffled her feet then turned back to her sauce, turning down the burner. Yeah, she thought, no pressure indeed…_

"Well, we've pretty much, ah…" Chandler started, wanting to make light of the evening with a joke, but then he stopped himself and sighed, glancing at his dinner companion. Monica's eyes were glued to her lap.

"Are you ready to call it a night?" he said, a more serious tone in his voice than usual. Monica bit her lip, feeling tears in the back of her eyes. _No,_ she thought to herself _. No, I want you to say something that will make me laugh, make me forget about all this and make things comfortable between us again._

Instead, she just nodded.

"I'll pay for your dress, Mon," he added in a softer voice.

"Don't worry about it, Chandler," she said, trying to make her face form a "breezy" smile as she glanced at him and waved her hand. "It's no big deal."

Chandler tensed as the phase "it's no big deal" escaped her lips one more time. Nothing tonight seemed to be a "big deal" to her and he almost wondered if she was having second thoughts about them dating at all. But why wouldn't she, he reasoned. Tonight he clearly had proven he wasn't Richard. Richard wouldn't have spilled red wine all down the front of her during a botched, nervous toast. And Pete, well, Pete would have had another dress delivered to her before she was out of the restroom.

Resigned, and now scared out of his mind, he cleared his throat.

"This whole evening has kinda sucked, huh?" he said.

"No, not _all_ of it, well… " Monica said, twisting her napkin in her lap then adding in a whisper. "I guess it's not exactly what I hoped it would be."

She could hear him audibly gasp and immediately felt horrible, but it was the truth. He'd been serious and nervous all night, not at all like the Chandler she knew as her friend, not at all like the man who swept her off her feet in London. Some anxiety seemed reasonable enough, she thought, but they couldn't seem to get past it. They couldn't seem to be "just them," and she thought Phoebe and Rachel might be right. This date was leading them into unchartered territory that suddenly he didn't seem completely comfortable entering into.

At the words "I guess it's not exactly what I hoped it would be," Chandler felt like she'd knocked the wind out of him.

"Yeah," he said quietly, dropping his eyes to the tablecloth. Monica looked over at him and cringed. He looked defeated and in that moment she wanted to reach out to him and tell him they could try again. But his next words stopped her.

"Look, Mon," he said, looking away, then back at her. "I don't want our…friendship to suffer. You're my…you're one of my best friends and if…if it's _this_ hard…us dating maybe, maybe we shouldn't."

 _Tell me I'm full of crap_ , he thought the moment the words escaped his lips as he immediately locked eyes with her. _Tell me Gellers don't give up, they don't lose and we'll try this again._

He searched her face as Monica sucked in a breath, her eyes flashing and for one, hopeful moment he thought that's exactly what she was going to say. Instead, she took another deep breath, Rachel and Phoebe's warnings about pressuring him echoing in her ears, and muttered, "maybe not."

She didn't see Chandler's face fall as she looked down at her lap. He couldn't believe how fast tears stung his eyes. He couldn't believe how fast it was over, but he didn't see the look of confusion that crossed her face, or the immediate regret she felt when she uttered those words.

He swallowed hard and looked from her to the waiter, who was making his way back to the table.

"Can I get you another glass of wine?" he asked, looking between the two.

"No," Chandler said, miserably, all hope of salvaging the evening completely lost. "Just the check, please."

 _ **NOTE: Told you I wouldn't forget, it's just awfully slow going on my end. And, hey, it's me. You had to expect a little angst, but by now I think you know you can trust me. ;) Thanks for keeping up with my stories, whenever I'm able to get to them!**_


	7. Chapter 7

"What are you doing home so early?" Rachel asked cautiously as Monica stepped out of the bathroom with her bathrobe on and her eyes puffy. Rachel put down her purse and crossed her arms, pensively walking across the kitchen.

 _Damn_! Monica thought. She was hoping, praying Rachel would be out until later and she could close her bedroom door and be alone with her sadness and disappointment. Instead Monica swiped a finger across her top lip, put her hand on her hip and looked out the big window.

"What happened?" Rachel asked. Monica sighed deeply then turned around, glaring at her roommate.

"Well, it was horrible," Monica said, a slight catch in her throat.

"Oh, no," Rachel said, motioning for her to come sit on the couch next to her. "What happened?"

Monica bit her lip as she walked over and sat beside her, initially not saying a word. Rachel studied her a moment then stood up and went into the kitchen, pulling a carton of low-fat yogurt from the freezer. Monica closed her eyes as Rachel popped the lid and pulled out two spoons.

Rachel walked back over to the sofa and handed her the carton and spoon, and Monica dove right in.

"Well, you know my new dress?" she asked, scooping up a large chunk of fake chocolate.

"The beautiful salmon one you wore tonight?" Rachel asked.

"It has red wine all down the front of it now," Monica said between mouthfuls.

"Nooo…" Rachel said, putting her palms on her face. "Because of Chandler?"

Monica nodded, "he was trying to make a toast…I think."

"Is it ruined?" she gasped.

"Yeah, it's ruined," she said, pounding her spoon into the carton, "but you know what the worst part was?"

"Worse than that beautiful ruined dress?!"

"Yes, worse," Monica said, aggravation in her voice. "He didn't make one joke about it."

Rachel just stared at her then took a bite of the yogurt herself, wondering why Chandler not joking would be a bad thing.

"So what?" she finally said, waving a hand in frustration. "If you ask me, that's a good thing. He jokes too much anyway!"

"You don't understand," Monica said, shaking her head and taking her frustration out on the yogurt with her spoon. "He didn't make one remark about it. Not one."

"Well, I mean, Mon, come on," Rachel said, confused. "Look, he'd just ruined your dress! Maybe he felt bad about it."

"He did," Monica acknowledged.

"And I'm sure he knew you were upset," Rachel continued. Monica nodded.

"Yeah, but he's always been so, so…he's always been able to make, ya know, light of stuff like that even when I'm mad," she said, looking imploringly at Rachel. "It was like he didn't, I don't know, didn't want to make the effort."

Rachel bit her lip.

"It was…the whole evening was just so awkward," Monica sighed, taking a bite. "I mean he was nervous, I was nervous…"

Rachel nodded.

"It didn't, I don't know, it didn't feel right," she said, looking forlornly into her frozen comfort food. Rachel pursed her lips together.

"It didn't feel like when we…" Monica looked away then, a blush on her cheeks. "It didn't feel...natural, like it did in London."

She whispered the last words and Rachel couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She brushed some hair off Monica's shoulder and rubbed her back. Rachel sighed.

"You two have been such good friends for so long," she said gently. "Maybe too long."

"Whatta mean?" Monica asked, with a quizzical look.

"I mean you two are in a comfort zone now, ya know?" she said, adding with a hint of jealousy "You're friends, sometimes I think Chandler may be your _best_ friend."

Monica smiled a reassuring smile at Rachel, but couldn't disagree. There were times she felt he was the only one who understood her when no one else did, including Rachel.

"Maybe there's a part of him…and you…that doesn't want to risk losing that, despite what happened between you two in London," Rachel said, stroking her hair.

Monica thought back to Chandler's words at the end of dinner. He'd pretty much said the same thing.

"Maybe," Monica said, her eyes brimming with tears as Rachel pulled her in for a hug.

"It's probably for the best, ya know?" Rachel said after a moment, straightening up. "I mean, let's look at this logically, OK? He…he can be, ya know, immature and…and his sarcasm can be _grating_ , and…and he's had problems with commitment, ya know, in the past. I just think maybe this all could be for the best."

Monica remained non-committal as she pushed her spoon back into her carton of comfort dairy.

"And, even if none of that happens, what if you do get past this one awkward date only to break up someday?" Rachel continued softly. "I've been through that and it…it's just the worst feeling ever."

Monica looked at Rachel then, seeing a sad expression on her face.

"I know," she nodded, patting her friend's knee with her fist wrapped around the spoon. She shook her head a moment, trying to push her own sadness away enough to sympathize with Rachel, yet again.

"I know…"

###

"Dude!" Joey said as he came in the door about 2 in the morning. Chandler was surrounded by beer bottles, staring at an infomercial on TV.

"What the hell?" Joey said, closing the door quickly behind him. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"And why not?" Chandler asked as he spun around the barcalounger "It's a Friday night, why shouldn't I be here sitting all alone in the dark?"

"Chandler…" Joey started. It was clear Chandler was more than a few beers ahead of him. He flipped on the kitchen light.

"Ah!" Chandler said, attempting to shield his eyes. "Dammit, Joe!"

"What the hell happened?!" he asked, throwing his arms out wide.

"What the hell happened?" Chandler repeated sarcastically. "What happened? I'll tell you what happened. Nothing. Not a damn thing!"

"What?" Joey asked, completely confused as he sat on the edge of the other chair.

"Nothing good anyway…" Chandler mumbled miserably, looking down in defeat at the half-empty beer bottle in his lap.

"You and Mon went out tonight, right?" Joey asked, wondering if he'd somehow gotten the day wrong.

"Oh, yes, yes," Chandler said, nodding his head vigorously up and down. "Least I think so."

"Whatta mean 'ya think so,'" Joey asked, starting to get agitated with him.

"Joe, the whole night sucked, OK?" he said wearily. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Sucked?!" Joey said. "How could it have sucked? This was you and Mon, hottest couple in London, am I right?"

"Pfftt…" Chandler spat out, standing up and swaying a bit, grabbing onto the back of the chair to steady himself. "That's over."

"How is it over?! It just started!" Joey said, watching as Chandler gingerly made his way over to the kitchen and began to pour the rest of his beer into the sink. "Hey!"

"'s warm," Chandler slurred with a slight shoulder shrug.

"Dude, come on, it couldn't have been that bad…"

"I spilled wine all down the front of her dress," Chandler said, making circles with the liquid as it hit the sink.

"Oh, God," Joey said, burying his head in his hands and shaking his head. "I knew you were gonna screw it up!"

Chandler threw him a death-stare.

"She musta freaked!" Joey continued.

"Nope," Chandler said, as he threw the now empty bottle into the trash.

"Huh?"

"Nope," Chandler repeated, wrapping both palms around the edge of the counter. "She didn't care."

"Wait," Joey said, standing and crossing his arms as he walked toward his roommate. "Monica? Monica Geller? You did go out with Monica, right?"

"Wait…no, no Lewinski. I went out with Monica Lewinski," Chandler said, voice oozing with sarcasm.

"Why do I know that name?" Joey asked rhetorically. Chandler dramatically rolled his eyes. Joey shook his head, focusing again.

"She didn't care?"

"Not even a little bit, about the wine, about, well, _anything_ really," Chandler sighed, striding back to the barcalounger and sinking dejectedly down into it.

Joey sat down across from him with a concerned look on his face.

"There was no…I don't know, like…passion about anything," Chandler said, his face fixed in confusion. "She was almost, ya know, laid back."

"Monica?" Joey said in disbelief. "Control freak, can't fan the magazines to the left, cleans the bathroom four times a day - that Monica?"

"Yeah," Chandler replied softly, shaking his head and diverting his eyes from Joey's. "It was almost like she was just humoring me by going out tonight. Like a…like a pity date."

"I don't believe that," Joey said. "Pity sex maybe…"

"It was not pity sex!" Chandler shot back hotly. "If anyone needed pity in London that night it was…oh, forget it!"

Chandler threw himself back against the chair.

"So, what now?" Joey finally said.

"I dunno," Chandler replied, as tears stung his eyes. He ignored them, chalking the sensation up to fatigue and alcohol. "I just…God, I hope this whole thing doesn't ruin our friendship, ya know?"

Joey nodded, then shook his head and added reassuringly, "it won't."

"Ya don't think so?" Chandler asked, really wanting to believe him.

"Nah," Joey said, with a wave of his hand. "You guys are solid, and, hey, maybe it's good you know now instead of, ya know, months from now and it's all 'we were on a break.'"

Chandler rolled his eyes again.

"Seriously, dude."

Chandler shrugged, "maybe so."

"Look, I love Mon but she has very specific ideas about relationships," Joey said, standing and stretching. "Maybe you just saved yourself a whole lotta heartache. Maybe staying 'just friends' is the best thing for the both of ya."

Chandler could feel Joey staring down at him, but he couldn't bring himself to answer him. It was so ironic, he mused - Joey saying those words at a moment when his heart was aching more than he could even believe.

Finally, Joey clapped him on the shoulder with a tired sigh.

"Look, you guys will be good," Joey said, trying his best to cheer up his sullen friend. "You're Monica and Chandler! You'll be fine."

"Yeah," Chandler said with a little, non-committal nod as he glanced up at his roommate.

"You will," Joey said firmly, not wanting to think about the consequences if he was wrong. He looked toward his bedroom. "Look, if you wanna talk some more…"

"Nah, go ahead," Chandler said, nodding toward Joey's room. "Thanks."

"No problem," Joey said as he walked toward his bedroom. He turned and pointed at Chandler before he closed the door. "You two will be fine!"

Chandler nodded and Joey gave him the thumbs up, closing the door behind him. Chandler threw his head back against the chair.

"God, I hope so," he mumbled, wondering in his heart if going forward their friendship, as important as it was, would ever be enough.

###

"Monica?!" her brother's voice cut through the apartment bright and early the next morning.

Monica was so startled she nearly banged her head on the bottom of the vanity in the bathroom, where she had been nestled under the sink scrubbing imaginary germs off the base of the toilet bowl. She had hardly slept at all. She couldn't stop thinking about Chandler. She couldn't stop thinking, period.

She put down the brush and took off her gloves as Ross called her name again, then she walked into the kitchen.

"Ross, you're back," she said, trying to smile brightly at her brother. "Where's Emily? How was the honeymoon?"

"She's sleeping off the jet lag," Ross said, clearly agitated, even as he gave Monica a brief hug, "which I would be too if I hadn't gotten a phone call from our mother at 6 a.m."

"A phone call?" Monica said nervously.

"Yes," Ross said, hands on his hips. "A very disturbing phone call about you and…and Chandler and…the two of you making out at our wedding reception?!"

Monica's face turned white as a sheet before a deep blush covered her face.

"Oh God…" she groaned.

"Which, of course, has thrown her into a complete fit because for _some_ reason she and Dad don't like Chandler," he added, diverting his stare for just a moment.

"And, uh, why is that again?" Monica asked, her voice a little high.

"Don't try to change the subject," Ross replied sharply.

Monica crossed her arms then and glared at her brother. Ross cleared his throat.

"I told her she had to be mistaken because my _sister_ and my _best friend_ would _not_ be making out at my wedding," he said, his own face starting to turn red. "Right? Right?!"

Monica diverted her gaze, "well…"

"Oh my God!" Ross said, his wide eyes begging for an explanation in the early morning light. "You can't…there's no way!"

"There is," Monica said wearily, sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs, Ross reluctantly doing the same. "See, I was...oh God…drunk…"

Ross shot right up out of the chair.

"Ch…Chandler took advantage of you?" Ross said, his hurt eyes blazing as he looked at the apartment door. "He is so in for an ass kicking!"

"No, Ross!" Monica said, grabbing his arm and pulling him down to sit again. "It…it wasn't like that. Not at all!"

Ross gave her a skeptical look, but sat back down.

"It wasn't him," Monica started, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to calmly explain what happened. "It was me…and he…he was wonderful and now I…I think everything is ruined."

She swiped a tear from under her eye as Ross's face turned from angry to concerned. He reached his hand out to his sister.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in a soft voice, trying to understand. She took his hand then took a deep breath.

"I think it's over," Monica said, trying to hold back her tears. "I think I've completely lost him.

"I think I've lost Chandler."

 _ **NOTE: Still plugging along. Hope you're still enjoying this one. It's close to finished…really close :)**_

 _ **Thank you for all your reviews…oh & Happy 22nd Birthday to our favorite show!**_


	8. Chapter 8

"I think I've lost Chandler."

Ross watched a panicked, sorrowful look come over his sister's face and her eyes fill with tears.

"Whoa…Mon?" he asked, his jet-lagged mind trying to sort out what he'd just heard. "OK. So you're gonna have to slow down and explain this to me. What the hell happened in London and why do you think you've…lost Chandler?!"

Monica looked into her brother's confused face and sighed, swallowing down her tears. Then she took a deep breath.

"Ross, I need you to promise me you won't get mad, OK?" she said, clutching her hands on the kitchen table and looking at him sternly.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously. "Why would I get mad?"

"Promise me!" Monica repeated more forcefully this time.

"But why…" he started.

"Just do it!" she demanded.

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes and now clutching his hands together on the table, too. How tight he was entwining his fingers gave away how anxious he was. "What is it? What is going on with you two?!"

"OK, OK," she repeated, then continued quickly before she lost her nerve. "He and I…we, ah, we slept together the night before your wedding."

"You what?!" he asked, wanting to jump out of his chair then fighting to stay in place. "You and…Chandler? What?! Why?!"

Monica crossed her arms, shrugged her shoulders and started talking, rapidly.

"I was drunk. Not completely drunk but drunk enough. I was depressed and…and he was just being a good friend and trying to make me feel better…"

"By getting into your pants?!" he demanded, eyes blazing.

"No, no! It wasn't like…would you let me finish?" she asked, her eyes flashing anger yet begging him to let her talk.

Ross took a deep breath.

"Go on," he exhaled slowly.

"He was, he was a complete gentleman," she said, lowering her lashes just a touch, her heart aching again as she recalled how gentle and sweet he'd been with her that night as she'd drowned her sorrows. "He walked me to my room to sleep it off and instead I…I went to his room later."

She diverted her eyes and with the patience of a saint Ross didn't say a word.

"I kissed him," she said, finally looking back at her brother. "I kissed him and I knew what I was doing, and he kept asking if I knew what I was doing and I did. I knew. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to…I wanted…it…I…"

"Monica, I don't need details, so help me God…" Ross said, staring at his sister, dumbfounded.

"No, yeah, OK," she said, nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Well, it…it was amazing."

Ross raised his eyebrows at that but stayed silent.

"And after your wedding, at the reception, we decided to leave it as a…a fling, ya know? We weren't going to throw away our friendship because we were, well I was drunk and we were stupid and had sex..."

Ross nodded, that being the only thing in the last 10 minutes to make much sense to him.

"…until…" Monica said, her voice seeming to drift away.

"Until…" Ross said, swallowing hard.

"Until he kissed me on the dance floor," she said, a tremor in her voice, "and, and something just came over us, both of us and before I knew it we were back at the hotel…"

"Oh my God…" Ross said, jaw dropped. "It happened again?"

"It happened again," she said again, wistfully, with a nod, "and neither of us were drunk…"

Ross cocked his head and studied his sister, the shocked expression never leaving his face.

"… and it was even more amazing than the first time…" she whispered, a slight blush on her cheeks.

Monica looked away again as Ross tried to absorb what he'd heard. He cleared his throat.

"I…wow, Mon, I can't…you and Chandler?" he asked, his voice squeaking a bit as it rose a couple octaves.

Monica nodded, still not looking at him.

"OK, so this might be because I'm in complete shock or it's jet-lag but it seems to me that you are pretty unhappy about what happened at…oh God, at _my_ wedding," he said, a look of bewilderment on his face. The look changed to one of concern as his sister finally looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"No, it's what happened last night," Monica said miserably.

"What happened last night?" Ross asked pensively.

"We tried to go out on a date and maybe we shouldn't have," Monica said, wiping a tear from her eye. "It was horrible. He wasn't himself and I wasn't…it felt like we were forcing, I don't know, something…"

To her surprise, Ross let out a big sigh of relief. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Thank God," he said, a hint of a smile on his face. "You both came to your senses."

"What?" she asked sharply, crossing her arms again.

"Monica, this is you and Chandler, OK? It's just, ew," he said, recoiling. "I just can't see you two as anything other than good friends."

Monica squeezed her eyes closed and pressed her fingertips against them, dropping her elbows on the table. She felt defeated and sad at the same time. Why did everyone keep saying that? Because it was true, she reasoned finally. They kept saying it because it was true. She felt Ross's hand on her arm and she opened her eyes, sighing.

"Look," he said gently. "It was a romantic wedding, if I do say so myself."

He smirked at her and she grinned a little.

"You got carried away," he said, trying his best to rationalize the situation. "It's not like you guys are strangers…"

He shook his head a little, trying to clear the thoughts of his little sister and best friend being _together_ together.

"Friends 'hooking up' at a wedding isn't unheard of, " he said, with just a hint of disgust.

"It isn't very smart, though," Monica whispered. "Ross, I…I'm afraid it's…it's ruined. I mean, we used to hang out, just the two of us, ya know? We'd just talk or…or watch a movie or something…"

Ross nodded.

"And now, ya know, how are we gonna do that again, huh?" she said, her eyes filling with tears again. Monica shrugged her shoulders. "Now there's just going to be all this weird tension and…"

Monica scrunched up her face, feeling about as uncomfortable as she was afraid they would from here on.

"Aw, hey," Ross said, standing and reaching for her. Monica stood too and stepped into his hug. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Listen," he said. "You'll work your way through it, OK? I mean look, Rachel and I did, right? We were together a long time and went through so much crap, but she…she even came to my wedding."

Monica squeezed her eyes closed again. If only Ross knew how painful it was for Rachel to watch him get married.

"This, you and Chandler, it was just a short-lived, heat-of-the-moment kind of thing," he said, stepping back from her and looking into her doubtful face. "You guys will work it out. You'll stay friends…"

"I sure hope so," Monica said, shaking her head a little.

"You will," he replied with confidence. "Some day you guys might even look back and laugh about it."

Laugh about it? Monica thought, in horror. She couldn't see laughing about it. It meant too much to her. The thought of laughing about it made her cringe, but the thought of losing Chandler's as a confidant and friend made her heart hurt even more.

"You gonna be OK?" Ross asked when she didn't say anything more.

"Yeah, yeah," Monica said, giving him one more quick hug. "I will be. I just need to talk to Chandler."

She gamely gave him a smile as he nodded and started heading for the door.

"Go get some sleep," Monica said, patting him on the back. "Give Emily my best."

"I will," Ross said. "I'll talk to you later."

Monica nodded as he walked out the door. She sighed and then slowly made her way back to the bathroom.

###

Out in the hallway Ross stared at Chandler & Joey's door for a minute, wondering if he should say anything to Chandler about what he'd just heard. He wasn't thrilled with him, but he knew Chandler well enough to know he was probably reeling from what had transpired as well.

Finally, he decided he was way too tired to get into it with him now anyway. Then as he turned toward the landing, the door to apartment 19 opened and Chandler stepped out in his robe to get the newspaper.

"Hey," Ross said as he turned around. Chandler jumped about a mile out of his skin.

"Oh, hey Ross," he said, running a shaking hand through his hair then pulling his robe belt tighter around him. "You're back!"

Ross sighed as he watched sweat beads break-out all over Chandler's forehead. The man was a nervous wreck.

"I am," he said as he glanced at apartment 20, then turned and looked Chandler straight in the eye. "I just talked to Monica."

"Oh, shit," Chandler said under his breath as his face fell. Ross stepped closer to him. Chandler's eyes widened as he took a small step back, then a look of resignation came over his face.

"OK, Ross," he said, putting his hands up, paper tucked under his arm. "If you want to take a swing at me, go ahead, OK. Go ahead. I deserve it. I can…I can take it."

Ross furrowed his brow at him.

"But you…you gotta know that there were….she was…I would never hurt her, I swear, Ross," Chandler said, the quiver finally disappearing from his voice. "And I…I'm not going to apologize for what happened, OK? We were two consenting adults and I…I would never use her, or take advantage of her, or…or…"

Chandler lifted his chin and looked back at Ross with an intense gaze that his friend was somewhat surprised to see.

"Monica means the world to me, Ross," he said evenly. "I'd never hurt her."

For a moment the two just started at each other before Ross finally broke the silence.

"I know," he said, stepping back. Chandler raised his eyebrows at him. "But that woman in there," he said, pointing to the girls apartment. "Is afraid your London tryst may have ruined your friendship for good."

"What?" Chandler asked, suddenly breathless.

"She's afraid you'll never be able to be as good of friends as you once were because of this and, I guess, a date that didn't go so well?" Ross watched Chandler's face turn beet red.

"She's afraid she's lost you, man," Ross said quietly.

"No," Chandler whispered, looking at her door. "No, no, no…"

Joey had said the night before that they'd be alright. That he and Monica would be able to go back to being just friends. He had doubts, but to know she did, too, just about broke his heart.

"That's…that's the last thing I want to come out of all…this," Chandler said, running a hand over his face.

"Then you better talk to her," Ross said just as Monica's apartment door opened and the woman in question stepped into the hallway.

She had her hair up in a sloppy pony tail, wearing old gray sweats and an oversized sweatshirt, but as she leaned up against the doorframe Chandler never thought she'd looked more adorable.

"I thought I heard voices out here," she said as she nervously tucked another stray piece of hair behind her ear. The truth was she knew she'd heard Ross and Chandler in the hall and was worried about what the confrontation might bring.

"I'm just leaving," Ross said. He nodded pointedly to Chandler then turned on the landing and walked down the stairs.

"So, gee, what was that all about?" she asked as she closed her apartment door and stepped further into the hallway.

He smirked a little at her and her heart skipped a beat. He looked so cute. His hair was messy and his robe was open just enough that she could tell he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath.

"Look, Mon," he said, slapping the newspaper against his palm as he briefly glanced at the empty landing. "Ross told me what you were worried about."

She blinked her eyes in surprise then bit her lip.

"He did, huh?" she said, her voice raspy.

"Yeah," he said gently as he moved closer to her. "Listen, you're never going to lose me, OK?"

"But, Chandler…"

"Nothing's going to change that, OK?" he said, taking another step closer to her. "We will always be friends. Always, Mon. What happened between…us isn't going to change that, OK. I promise."

Her heart was pounding hard and she was fighting the urge to hurl herself into his arms. Instead she grinned a watery grin and let out a shaky sigh. It was for the best, letting it go. He knew it and she knew it. Everyone knew it. One day she just hoped her heart would, too.

"OK, OK, well th-that's good because I don't know what I would do if…" she cleared her throat and smiled up at him, "I couldn't kick your ass at foosball every once in a while."

He gave her his lopsided grin then gave in, pulling her into his arms, feeling like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. He could tell she was shaking.

"I don't know what I would do if I couldn't raid your fridge every once...well, once a day really," he said softly with a grin, trying gamely to fight the feelings that he was going to have to find a way to conquer to stay close to her - to keep his promise that they could be "just friends" again.

"Just once a day?" she giggled and he smiled his brilliant smile as she stepped back to face him, their arms still securely around one another. And all of a sudden it came again - that feeling, that desire. Their smiles calmed, replaced by an intense gaze that took their hearts back across the Atlantic faster than the speed of light.

Chandler could feel every muscle in her body tense up as his eyes held hers. He wanted to kiss her so badly he could taste it, but he fought it, mistaking her tension as anxiety. Monica could feel the tears in the back of her eyes as they looked into his. She felt his arms loosen around her then she gasped when he abruptly jumped back as the door to apartment 20 flew open.

"Guys!" Rachel said excitedly, clutching the phone in her hand, oblivious to the moment she'd just ruined in the hall. "Phoebe just called. Her water broke! She's at the hospital. Get Joey and Ross! We've gotta go!"

 _ **NOTE: I hope this was worth the wait. I am supremely sorry for the delays in updates even though there's no way to speed them up.**_

 _ **However, I'm writing stuff now in my professional world that is almost (**_ **almost** _ **) as satisfying and is actually moving people and changing lives, so I thank the Lord for that.**_

 _ **But I want to enrich your lives, and mine, with Mondler when I can. ;) I'm doing my best. This one is close to complete on my laptop. Hopefully it won't be long now :)**_

 _ **Have a beautiful weekend!**_


	9. Chapter 9

"You doing OK, sweetie?" Monica asked, smoothing back the hair on Phoebe's sweaty brow. Her friend smiled weakly at her.

"No," Phoebe said, somewhat miserably. "I can't believe it's almost over."

Monica nodded sympathetically. Moments earlier Rachel had come to her, panicked. Phoebe had asked her to ask Frank Jr and his wife if she could keep one of the triplets. Monica knew it was the hormones talking, but her heart ached for her friend.

"I'm sorry, Pheebs," she said. "At least you are still cool Aunt Phoebe."

"Yeah," she said unconvinced. Then another contraction hit her and Monica silently held her hand as she worked her way through it.

"You OK?" Monica asked as the pain began to subside. Phoebe nodded as Monica wiped her brow.

"What about you?" she asked.

Monica blinked. "Me?" she asked mid-wipe.

"Yeah," Phoebe said, "ya know with the whole Chandler thing."

Monica threw a glance over her shoulder toward the door, then turned back to Phoebe with a shrug.

"We're OK," she said, concentrating once again on the task at hand. "I think…I don't know. I mean…"

"What do you mean 'you don't know?'" Phoebe asked, narrowing her eyes at her. Monica let out a heavy sigh.

"No. No, we're good," Monica said, making sure she got every last drop of moisture off Phoebe's forehead. "We…we decided we should just stay friends."

"Really?" Phoebe asked, skeptically.

"Yeah," Monica said softly, sitting down again on the chair next to her friend. "We don't want to, ya know, ruin our relationship by trying to be more than we are, I guess."

Phoebe nodded as Monica looked away, wringing the towel in her hands.

"I think that's a good idea," Phoebe said with a nod as Monica's heart fell a little further with even more validation of the 'just friends' idea. "My guess is you would want more than he'd be willing to commit to, ya know. I mean, he's Chandler."

Monica shot her a look.

"Don't get me wrong," Phoebe said, backpedaling a bit. "He's a great guy, maybe not the right one for you though."

Monica just pursed her lips together.

"Listen, as friends you two are terrific," Phoebe continued, "but I would hate to see you guys start dating then go through…"

"…what Ross and Rachel did, I know," Monica finished for her, a little aggravated at the constant comparison but understanding the reason behind it. Last year had been traumatic for them all. Phoebe nodded again, then sighed, studying Monica carefully.

"What about what happened between you two in London?" Phoebe finally asked softly. After a moment Monica shrugged again and diverted her eyes.

"It was just an impulse, I suppose," she said, looking down. "It was just this…this…moment..."

She looked up then, looking into the space past Phoebe with tears in her eyes. Phoebe reached out her hand.

"It was quite a moment though, huh?" she said sympathetically, lacing her fingers with Monica's.

"It was," Monica said, squeezing her hand and trying to smile and fight tears at the same time. "It really, really was…"

Then she cleared her throat and glanced over at the contraction monitor.

"But not like this one," she said, plastering a smile on her face," another one's coming."

"I can feel it!" Phoebe said breathlessly, suddenly clutching onto Monica's hand with all her might.

"It won't be long now," Monica said, as she smiled through the pain.

###

"Chandler!"

Chandler whipped his head around when Rachel called out his name. He'd just gotten off the phone with work and was headed to the bathroom.

It had all happened so fast. The triplets parents had rushed past the friends anxiously waiting in the waiting room just in time to see Frank Jr. Jr., little Leslie and what turned out to be "baby girl Chandler" come into the world. In the excitement that followed they'd all rushed in to see Phoebe and the triplets.

And it had been surreal.

He stood at Monica's side, her holding little, newborn Chandler, and his mind took him places his mind had never gone before. Standing so close to her, listening to her talk softly to the baby in her arms had made his spine tingle. He could almost see it…almost. Her holding his baby, their baby. In the moment he'd reached out his hand, cradling the top of the baby's tiny head and stroked his thumb over her wisps of hair.

Monica had turned to look back at him. He'd grinned at her and for a minute their eyes had locked. Whatever connection snapped into place between them in London was going to take a long time to go away, he figured, if it ever did…

"What?" he asked, bringing himself back to reality.

"Um…" Rachel started, hesitantly.

"Come on, Rach, I really need to pee," he said, bouncing from one foot to the next.

"OK, OK," she said, now in a rush. "You and Monica are, are…have decided to, um, just be friends now, right?"

He stopped bouncing, looking at her incredulously.

"Why?" he asked, throwing his arms out to the side. "Why are you asking me this now?!"

"Well," Rachel said, swallowing hard and nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. "See there are these two nurses…"

Chandler put his hand up.

"Let me stop you right there," he said, shaking his head. "Look, tell Joey if he needs a wingman I'm not interested right now, OK?"

He turned and started walking towards the bathroom again.

"Male nurses, Chandler," Rachel called after him and he stopped in his tracks.

"Oh," he said, slowly turning back towards her.

"See, one asked me out but said he was also hoping I had a friend so his friend could go to, like a double date," Rachel rushed on, "and, of course Phoebe's not available, so I thought if…"

"Don't you have any other friends?" Chandler asked in a high-pitched voice, his heart now racing.

"Chandler!" Rachel said, then she cocked her head to the side. "Look, I just wanted to make sure you two were, ya know, OK before I, uh, asked Monica."

"Oh…" he said, running his hand through his hair, "so you haven't asked Mon yet?"

"Asked me what?" Monica said as she suddenly came into view. She stopped and looked back and forth between the two of them. Chandler looked at Rachel, who sighed and turned to Monica.

"OK. So, here's the situation," she said, taking a deep breath. "There's this nurse - _male_ nurse - who asked me out for tonight and asked if I had a friend for one of his colleagues, Dan something, so we could double date, and I was wondering…"

"Tonight?" Monica asked, looking at Rachel like she was crazy.

"Yeah," Rachel said, casting a glance at Chandler. "Look, it's just a…a dinner date."

Monica briefly looked over at Chandler, who was looking at the floor. She took a deep breath. She really wasn't in the mood to go on a double date, or any date, right at that moment and she was pretty furious at Rachel for asking in front of Chandler.

"Rach, I…I just, I don't know…" she started, between clenched teeth, again glancing in his direction.

Chandler squeezed his eyes shut as his heart pounded hard against his chest. On one hand, he was euphoric she was hesitating. On the other hand, she didn't immediately say "no" to the offer either. So he decided to do what, apparently, he did best. He looked up and found both women staring at him.

"It's OK, Mon," he said quietly. He swore her face fell a little as Rachel's broke into a grin, so he pulled her aside, leaving Rachel about 10 feet away.

"Chandler," she whispered, searching his eyes. "After…after what just happened last night…"

He shook his head.

"I meant it when I said nothing is worth ruining our friendship over," he said with a sad grin. "If you want to go, go."

"Really?" she said, her heart breaking at the sincerity in his voice and the finality behind those words.

"Really," he said with a little nod, his heart - and his bladder - threatening to burst at any moment. "I'm sure it'll be better than the one you went on last night."

He gave her his lopsided grin and her heart flipped.

"Chandler…" she said softly, putting her hand on his arm. She knew what he was doing. She knew he was being the supportive friend he'd always been, just as she would have done if the tables were turned. And in his next words, he confirmed it.

"We're friends, Mon, first, last and always," he said with a smile. She gave him a little grin.

"Always," she said, with a nod. "OK, I guess I'll go. Chances are he's butt ugly anyway..."

She winked at him and Chandler's smile widened.

"Dan!" Rachel said across the room. Chandler and Monica turned to see a tall, handsome blond-haired, blue eyed male nurse smiling back at them.

"Monica, this is Dan," Rachel said excitedly as she brought Dan closer to her friend.

"Ah," Monica said, swallowing hard. "HI Dan, I'm, um, Monica."

Dan shook her hand then turned to her defeated-looking companion.

"Dan," the nurse said as he stuck out his hand.

"I…ah," Chandler said, stumbling over his words and rather weakly shaking Dan's hand.. "I'm Chandler. I…I…"

Monica's face fell as she put her hands to her cheeks, her eyes going back and forth between the two. Chandler offered a nervous laugh and gestured with his thumb down the corridor behind him.

"…I…I, uh, I gotta, um, pee," he said, pathetically, gesturing broadly down the hallway. "See ya Dan, Rach…Mon…."

With that Chandler - with a face that felt like it was on fire - turned on his heels, squeezed his eyes closed in disgust at himself and finally walked to the bathroom. Monica watched him open the door and disappear inside, barely acknowledging Dan or Rachel as they discussed the plans for the rest of her evening.

###

"Oh, I wish it wasn't raining," Rachel whined as she glanced at the sheets of water bouncing off the big window in their living room.

"It's much more fun to go on dates when the weather is nice," she grumbled to herself as she entered the bathroom, marginally pushing Monica out of the way to grab a piece of the mirror.

Monica didn't say a word as she applied a little lipstick. The rain didn't bother her. It actually seemed to fit her gloomy mood and Rachel didn't fail to notice.

"You don't seem too excited," Rachel said. Monica raised her eyebrows at her and shrugged.

"Should I be?" Monica asked.

"Mon," Rachel said, fluffing her hair and dismissing the melancholy state of her roommate. "These guys are hot and they are going to medical school. You'll be over your little fling with Chandler in no time."

Monica opened her mouth to protest when she heard the front door open and Joey walk in.

"'ello," Joey said in a sing-song greeting. "You still here?"

"Yeah," Rachel said as she and Monica emerged from bathroom. Monica almost stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Chandler was with him.

"Hey guys," Monica said as casually as she could, her eyes never leaving Chandler's." What's up?"

"I need some candles and, um, food if you have any. One of the hot nurses is coming over tonight," Joe said, with a hint of glee in his voice.

"Of course," Rachel said as she rolled her eyes and Joey made a beeline for the refrigerator.

"Yes, it seems everyone has a nurse but me," Chandler deadpanned, but there was something in his voice that made Monica's eyes lock more steadily with his. He tried to give her a little grin and Monica's heart raced faster than it already was. His eyes looked so sad behind his smile.

"OK, I have what I need," Joey said as Rachel handed him a couple candles just as thunder cracked outside, making them all jump.

"Great," Rachel said. "Have fun, and Chandler, have fun doing…whatever it is you're, ah, doing…."

Rachel's face turned a little red, but he didn't see it. His eyes were still locked with Monica's.

"I…I'm gonna take a walk in the rain," he said quietly then, he nodded to Monica.

"Have a…a pleasant evening." he said, his heart feeling as heavy as his voice.

"Yep," Joey said, practically running out of their apartment now. "See ya!"

Monica didn't even acknowledge that Joey left. Her heart felt like it was in her throat as Chandler smiled softly at her then turned to Rachel and waved, closing the door behind him.

"OK, then, Joey's all set," Rachel said as she picked up her purse and started switching items to a smaller bag. "They'll be here in about a half-hour so…um, Mon?"

But Monica hadn't heard a word she said.

"Mon?" Rachel said loudly. Monica finally turned to her with tears in her eyes.

"Cancel the date," she said, a slight quiver in her voice

"What?!"

"Cancel the date," she demanded, looking Rachel right in the eye.

 _ **NOTE: Two chapters left and, good news, they're almost done and should be posted before 2017 rolls around! Thanks for your patience, everyone. God bless…**_


	10. Chapter 10

"Monica!"

"Cancel it!"

"No!" Rachel half shrieked, turning to her in a flash, a shocked look on her own face. "I'm not gonna cancel…"

"Well, at least cancel _my_ date," Monica said, walking across the room and grabbing her raincoat from the hooks behind the front door.

"Why?!"

"Did you see…" Monica said, her heart choking her words in her throat before she added in a whisper, "the look on his face…"

"Whose face?"

Monica shook her head, not at all in the mood at the moment to explain her heart to anyone other than Chandler.

"Just…I gotta go…" she shrugging on her coat as Rachel slowly put two-and-two together.

"Wait! Mon…" she said, grabbing her arm and making Monica look her in the eye. "Didn't you both agree that it was for the best if you were 'just friends'?"

"I know, but…"

"OK. So, if it's not right then you can't force it…"

"But it is right, Rachel! It's so right!" she said so emphatically Rachel took a step back.

"I _know_ he worries about…commitment, about getting his heart broken. I understand that," Monica said, pointing to herself to make her point and becoming more animated with every word. "I _know_ his sarcasm can be too much sometimes. I _know_ he can be immature, OK? I _know_! But I also know how sweet and good-hearted he is and…and he makes me laugh and in London he… God, Rach… we, we _connected_ and…and…"

"Monica!" Rachel said finally, taken aback as she tries to calm her roommate down. "Mon, it's Chandler! This is Chandler you're talking about. Can you really see yourself _falling_ _in love_ with Chandler?!"

Monica didn't hesitate when she answered, surprising even herself at how quickly the truth jumped out of her mouth.

"Yes," she said clearly, her eyes filling with tears. "Yes, I can."

Rachel's jaw dropped, but her shock softened as she looked at the emotion in Monica's eyes. Her friend had that same look on her face - the one Rachel had never seen before - until London.

Slowly Rachel walked over to the couch and picked up the telephone, her eyes still fixed on her friend.

"I'll cancel," she said quietly, with a little nod.

"Thank you," Monica said with a relieved smile, then she turned and hurried out the door.

###

"Chandler!" she yelled after him, throwing her hood up over her hair as she ran out of their building into the deluge. She quickly, and somewhat recklessly, crossed the street through the temporarily stopped rush-hour traffic, trying to catch up with him as he walked hurriedly into the park.

"Chandler, stop!" she yelled as the rain came down harder. "I'm not going out with him!"

He stopped walking then and turned slowly to her in the downpour. The rain was flattening his hair and running down his face but he didn't care. Had her heard her right?

"What?!" he asked, loudly.

"I told Rachel to cancel," she yelled over the rain, her dress shoes sloshing through the wet grass as she came closer to him.

"You did?" he said, taken aback just as his stomach started to turn from genuinely nauseous to nervously excited.

"Yes!"

They were still several feet away from one another. They both looked up as a rumble of thunder clapped overhead. Chandler blinked rapidly as he looked from the storm clouds to her and back again a few times, pursing his lips together. His hands in fists at his sides he took a step closer to her.

"Why?!" he half-shouted over another thunder clap.

"Because I don't want to!" she cried in a loud voice, making sure he could hear her over the rain. "I don't want to go out with him! I don't want to go out with anyone, Chandler. All I can think about is _you_ , and London, and us and…and how…how everything that has gone wrong since we came home has really had _nothing_ to do with _us_! Even…even last night. That wasn't us!

Chandler just stared at her, as awestruck by her words as the lightning that danced out of the clouds overhead. As he swiped the water away from his face with his arm and the back of his hand, he saw her blink away tears in her eyes under the hood of her raincoat.

"I know I'm kinda…crazy, OK," she said loudly, gesturing with her hands, "and…and neurotic and insecure and, and I like to control things too much and I'm…I'm horrible at relationships and I…I pick the wrong guys to get involved with and then…then there is you, and there's always been you."

He took a step closer to her, trying to follow her hurried, jumbled logic, yet feeling in his bones that they were on the verge of something neither of them ever saw coming.

"I know we're good friends, best friends, and I don't want to mess that up but…but we had London," she said, taking another step closer to him, searching his handsome face as the rain hit his cheeks, "perfect London, and now were home and there are these…these round holes everyone wants us to fit into…"

"Round holes?" Chandler mouthed back at her, a bemused grin on his face. He could feel right then just how fast he was falling for his best friend, standing in front of him, rambling on in the rain.

"…but I don't want to be round!" she continued, taking a quick breath. "OK, I don't want to be round. I…I wanna be square and if that's too much for everyone else, that's too bad for them! I just need to know…Chandler? Is it too much for _you_?"

Just then a sharp bolt of lightning flashed overhead making them both jump. Chandler grabbed her arm and pulled her under the thick branches of the nearest maple tree. Monica's hood fell down behind her as he put his hands on her shoulders, blinking rain and tears out of his eyes.

"You know it's dangerous," she said, looking around at their "shelter" then back at him once again, "to stand under a tree in a thunderstorm."

Her breathing became shallow when his slow, crooked grin broke across his face.

"It's dangerous," he said gently, "to start a romance with your best friend. But you know what? I like your brand of crazy, Monica Geller. I _really_ like it and having something…something _real_ with you…doesn't seem so scary."

Monica gasped and she grabbed onto his arms, both of them clutching each other. Chandler smiled.

"I wanna be a square with you," he said as he watched a giant smile break over her face. "I'm an awkward, terrified, pathetic mess of a man who makes way too many jokes when I'm nervous and would rather die than show anyone how I really feel, but you…I think you know that and if you know all that and you _still_ want to be a…square with me then, let's do it!"

"Really?!" she asked, joy swelling in her heart as her eyes completely lit up.

"Really," he sighed in relief, pulling her to him. "Despite all our neurosis we fit together pretty well, don't you think?"

"I do think," she said, the excitement in her voice unmistakable as she hugged him tightly, soaked clothes and all. "I _very_ _much_ do think! And I don't care what _they_ think!"

"Me either," he said, pulling back to look into her bright eyes. "They'll just have to get used to us being 'us.'"

"Yes they will," she agreed, running her fingers through his drenched hair, sending a shiver down his spine. He swallowed hard and ran his hands from her shoulders down to her hips.

"Listen, despite what I might have said about being 'just friends' I…Mon, all I've thought since we got home is finding a way, _any_ _way_ , to be with you again, if…if you wanted…me," he whispered, a fire ignited behind his blue eyes, lifting one hand to run his finger down the side of her face as he leaned his body closer into hers, "just to…touch you again..."

"I know," she breathed, her eyes fluttering closed as he traced her jaw. "I know exactly what you mean." Her head started to spin and her wet face turned pink as she licked her lips and opened her eyes. The look of intense desire she found in his expression nearly took her breath away.

"All I've dreamed about is you touching me again, about us…being together…" she whispered, her body trembling as her thoughts took her back to their nights together in London. "Oh God, it was…we were so…it was so incredible, Chandler…"

She stopped and half-laughed, her whole face covered in a deep blush as she grinned a little shyly at him. His heart thumped at the adorable look on her face. He grinned back at her then slowly leaned in to touch his lips to hers in what began as a gentle, loving kiss. Then she felt the hand at her waist tighten as he buried his other hand in her hair. She moved her mouth with his, tasting him as he tasted her. Monica pushed her whole body into him, sinking as far into the kiss as she could, their limbs twisting around each other as they were swept up in the moment, swaying together in the slowing rainstorm.

When they finally broke apart, each gasping for air, Chandler grinned.

"Damn," he said breathlessly, his eyes blurry and his heart pounding as he tried to focus on her glowing face. "If we'd just done _that_ when we first came home we could have avoided all the other crap."

"I know," she whispered with a little headshake. "Really we should have started doing _that_ a long, long time ago…"

She widened her eyes then smirked at him. His face turned a hint of red behind the shy little grin that came to his lips and she smiled wider, her heart pounding wildly. She'd known him forever but these new feelings she had for him were so very different from anything she'd felt before. They were the most thrilling emotions she'd ever known, and at the same time they were so comfortable they made complete sense to her.

He was right, she thought, none of _this_ felt scary at all.

Chandler smiled as he looked into her eyes as a calm anticipation swept through him. This was Monica smiling back at him. Monica who wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her. Monica, who always had a way of making him feel whole and complete in the chaos and insecurity that often laid claim to his mind.

He cradled her face in his hands and gently kissed her again, marveling at how her lips gently clung to his until her felt her smile against his kiss. His hands slowly fell to her hips as her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she gazed into his eyes, her heart beaming from hers. He started to move with her as the rain turned to little more than a heavy drizzle. They looked deeply into one another's blue eyes as they swayed in each other's arms.

"We can take it slow…" he said finally, wrapping his arms more securely behind her back.

"…at our own pace…" she nodded, locking her arms behind his neck.

"…and we'll do what we want…" he grinned.

"…whenever we want…" she smiled.

"…so I can take you to a _nice_ dinner…" he smiled back.

"…or bring me breakfast in bed…" she said, giving him a seductive look.

"…oh yeah…" he said in a deep voice that made her giggle.

"…we can go to the movies…" she whispered, as he leaned his forehead to hers.

"…or we can stay home…" he smiled, closing his eyes

"…ummm…" she murmured quietly, "…we can even go to the coffee house…"

"…or…" he said as he pulled her out from under the tree, holding her close.

"…we can dance in the rain…" he whispered.

She smiled as happy tears trickled onto her cheeks.

"We can dance in the rain," she sighed just before he kissed her wet lips. She ran her hands through his soaked hair and kissed him back, both of them ready to dive heart-first into their season of love.

 _ **NOTE: Well, I hope this little love scene was worth it. :)**_

 _ **Thank you so much for your reviews. Epilogue is next. Merry Christmas!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_Three Months Later..._

"…and that's when Janice walked in," Chandler said, bemused look on his face.

"Oh my God!" Monica said, trying to stifle a belly laugh behind her cloth napkin, her face turning pink. Chandler beamed at her as she wiped tears from her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Oh, no. No," Chandler said, setting his wine glass back on the table.

"What happened then?" she said, trying to stop another rising giggle.

"I followed Joey to the bathroom and banged my head against a wall," he deadpanned. She gave him a mildly skeptical look. "No, seriously."

"Oh, Chandler," she said, shaking her head with a smile and taking his hand in hers atop the fancy tablecloth.

"Joey and his date didn't stay too long after that," Chandler recalled as he caressed her fingers with his. "She ordered some dessert to, ah, use later - chocolate mousse I think - and they hightailed it out of here."

"Oh God, stop," Monica laughed, putting her hand over her mouth. "So what did you do?"

"He left me his credit card and I charged it up real nice," he said, squeezing her hand and smiling, trying not to laugh himself. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of course I gave him the money," he replied to her unasked question, then added with a little shrug, "and I've been…"

"….giving him money ever since," they said in unison as she gazed into his eyes and sighed. He smiled with a little blush and nodded in that little boy way he sometimes did that made her heart flip. They gazed steadily into each other's eyes, the tension rising as he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Can I get you anything else?" the waiter asked as he stopped by one last time. It took a couple seconds for Chandler to tear his eyes from hers. He cleared his throat.

"I, ah, I don't think so, Mon?" he asked.

"Hum," she said, with a mischievous glance to Chandler that turned to an innocent look toward the waiter. "Do you still have chocolate mousse?"

"It's our house specialty ma'am," he nodded.

"Then we'll take two, " Monica said, smirking at her boyfriend. "To go."

Chandler swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry and added as his girlfriend's smirk turned into a sweet smile, "then the check. As quickly as possible, my good man!"

###

"…whatta gonna do again?" he added, breathless, as Monica pushed against him and opened her apartment door behind him. Turning the doorknob in one hand and holding chocolate mousse in the other, she placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"Oh, you'll know soon enough, Mr. Big," she whispered as the door swung open. "I just hope I have enough dessert to cover everything I need to lick off."

Chandler let out a deep groan as he pulled her to him, covering her mouth with a searing kiss, making her knees go weak…

"Ah…hello?!" Ross said, crossing his arms. "There are, ya know, _other_ people in the room."

Chandler felt Monica tense up but finished his kiss before backing away. She kissed him quickly one more time before they reluctantly turned to their friends.

"Hello people who do not live here," Monica glared at her brother, Rachel and Joey.

"Really, you guys, do you have to shove it in our faces _all_ _the_ _time_ ," Ross said, hauntingly picking up his jacket off the back of the couch and dramatically throwing it over his arm. "We're all very happy for you, but we don't need to see it!"

"Ross," Rachel said pointedly, hand on her hip, glaring at him as she stomped her foot.

"What's ya got in there?" Joey said, ignoring the commotion in the room and peeking into the bag that Monica had placed on the kitchen table. "Ohh, yeah…"

"Not for you, Joe!" Chandler said, moving around the kitchen table to shield the bag.

"Fine, that's just fine," Ross said, pointing his finger in the air and walking quickly to the door.

"Ross?" Monica said, now concerned by his strange behavior. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I've gotta a…a thing," he said, pretending to look at his watch. "I'm late. Gotta run."

With that he closed the door swiftly behind him.

"What's up with him?" Chandler asked, keeping one eye on Joey, who was trying hard to grab the dessert bag without anyone's knowledge.

Rachel sighed.

"Emily," she said, shaking her head. "They're fighting. She wants to move into her cousin's place again."

"I thought they were over that," Monica said, casting another worried glance towards the door as Chandler came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Apparently not," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"You know what I think?" Joey said, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"What's that, Joe?" Chandler asked, resting his chin against Monica's temple as she tightened her arms over his.

"They got married too fast," Joey said, nodding dramatically.

"Gee, ya think?" Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

Chandler and Monica smirked at each other. Another moment passed before Monica cleared her throat.

"Well, ah, we're gonna turn in," she said, nodding toward her bedroom.

"Yeah," Chandler agreed, adding a big, fake yawn behind her. "Yep, been a long day."

"Oh, whatever," Rachel said, with a wave of her hand and a wink. "Goodnight, you two."

"Night," Chandler said, almost giddy as he took Monica's hand and they walked quickly toward her bedroom, Joey and Rachel chuckling after them.

As soon as the door was shut clothes started to come off. Chandler had just kicked his pants to the side of the room when she grabbed his face and started kissing him, hard. She undid his tie as he murmured in her ear, "tell me one more time, what are you gonna do with that mousse?"

He smirked seductively at her as she gasped.

"I don't have it!" she whispered loudly. "I thought you did!"

His puppy dog face when he pulled back to look into her eyes about made her melt.

"I don't have it," he whined. "Oh God, Joey has it!"

"Ohhh," she said, turning her head worriedly toward the door. But then Chandler looked her up and down and grinned lustily.

"Eh, that's OK," he said, moving in on her again, but she placed her palm on his chest with a teasing grin, pushing him gently away.

"Now, I thought you wanted your dessert," Monica teased as she backed up against the closed bedroom door, clad now in just her black bra and panties. She placed her other hand on the door knob.

"Oh, I'll get my dessert," Chandler teased back with a grin of his own as he threw off his now unbuttoned shirt, beginning to walk toward her again.

"You think so, huh, big guy?" she said with a giggle and quickly ducked, running past him to the other side of the bed.

"Wha…" Chandler said, lifting his eyebrows as he turned around a little too slowly to catch her.

"You'll have to work for it," she said with such a cheeky grin Chandler had to stifle a laugh.

"So you wanna play it like that, do ya?" he said, his heart pounding wildly as he slowly moved past the bottom of the bed, both of them with wide smiles on their faces.

"Um hum," Monica said, just before he lunged at her and she jumped on top of her bed and stood up. She moved one way and he moved the other, both grinning. She picked up the covers just as he caught her legs and she fell on her butt down onto the mattress.

"Chandler!" she said, giggling.

"I've got you now, ha, ha!" he said in a mock-menacing voice as she shrieked and reached back behind her for the headboard, trying to pull herself up. Chandler had a firm grip on either side of her, so she couldn't pull up much and she really didn't want to. In his grasp was the only place she wanted to be.

Chandler pulled himself onto the bed, hanging onto her hips. He ducked his head and began to kiss her bare stomach just above the sheet. Monica gasped a soft half-laugh, half-moan as his mouth moved over her skin. He finally looked up at her, smiling, but then he softly gasped.

She was looking at him with such happiness, such joy radiating from her that the feeling immediately made his heart flutter. He watched as her eyes instantly filled with tears behind her beautiful smile. He smiled back, holding the happy look between them, both feeling the emotion wash over them, each silently knowing they'd never felt a moment this perfect in their entire lives.

"Wow," he whispered, his own eyes getting misty despite his efforts to stop it. The way she was looking at him made her more beautiful than ever.

Monica blinked back her tears, so captivated by the look in his eyes, the brilliance of his smile, the softness of his voice that she almost forgot to breathe. Chandler's smile turned into a teasing grin at rendering her speechless and he moved to kiss her again, slowly making his way up her body as she let herself fall back onto the bed. His face finally inches from hers. He raised his hand and cupped the side of her face, holding her suddenly intense gaze with his. A small tear formed in the corner of Monica's eye as they looked deep into each other's eyes. Her fingers raked over his wrist laying against her jaw.

"Chandler?" she whispered softly.

"What?" he breathed back, his heart pounding so hard he knew she could feel it.

She smiled gently at him.

"Kiss me," she whispered, her mind harkening back to their garden dance at Ross and Emily's wedding, when she'd so desperately wanted his lips on hers under the twinkling lights and the swaying breeze.

"Kiss me…"

Her breath caught as Chandler grinned then slowly ran his lips gently over hers, barely brushing them. Then he pressed a little harder, then a little harder until her mouth melded with his, her tongue tracing his bottom lip, soft moans rumbling from inside of her. He pulled back a touch to brush her lips again, but the yearning and passion of her mouth against his egged him on. His hand tightened on the side of her head as he kissed her deeper, and deeper, wanting desperately to stay in his moment and kiss her forever.

Monica's hands dug into his smooth back as she pulled him closer. She forgot about dessert and their friends and everything except how his lips felt against hers, how her body felt under him. She felt consumed by him and that was all she wanted.

Finally he pulled away, allowing them both some air, dragging his lips mere inches from hers. He breathed heavily against her cheek, feeling her equally heavy breath against his ear. He knew if he opened his eyes he'd only see stars, real fireworks he thought only existed in rom coms and fantasies, but he now knew were completely real. Finally his mouth was drawn to the hallow of her neck below her ear. He curled his hands around her shoulders, craving her soft, sweaty, sensitive skin like his life depended on tasting her again.

She buried her hands in his hair and kissed his silky brown strands. She feathered kisses against his ear, his neck, the tops of his shoulders, any place she could reach, her heart bursting open.

Nothing they experienced before had ever felt like this.

###

Monica sighed deeply, her cheek against his bare chest, the top of her head tucked under his chin. She ran her arms along the fitted sheet snuggling them against his torso, gripping her hands under his shoulders as he lay on his back in the bed.

Her eyes closed as she lay on top of him, feeling more content and complete than she had ever been in her entire life. She grinned as his steady heartbeat kept rhythm under her ear, lulling her already sleepy mind into tranquility in the quiet room.

Chandler had his arms wrapped around her, his fingers gently brushing her hair, down her soft cheek to her bare back and up again, making slow, soft circles on her naked skin. He kissed her hair and hugged her against him, feeling her whole body relax on top of him.

He knew she was close to falling asleep, but the three words he'd wanted to tell her for weeks now were dancing on the tip of his tongue, and he didn't want to hold them back any longer.

"Monica?" he said quietly, softer than whisper.

"Humm?" he felt more than heard her purr against him.

He took a deep breath, then smiled as he let it out slowly, his watery eyes searching the ceiling.

"I love you," he breathed as he held onto her a little tighter, instantly feeling her fingers dig into his shoulders. He swallowed heavily then took another breath.

"I love you. I mean…I'm in love with you," he whispered as he heard her take a sharp breath. "Head over heels in love. I just…I am and I…I needed you to know."

He finally exhaled slowly, tears gathering in the back of his throat as he waited for her response. He'd taken a risk, but deep inside he knew it wasn't a big risk. He _knew_ and a moment later he felt tears on his chest as she started trembling in his arms.

Monica pushed up from him, her bright eyes wet, her breath ragged as she slid her body so her face could meet his, the smile he found behind her tears making his heart beat wildly. He grinned back at her.

"Chandler," Monica said in a shaky voice, her watery eyes searching his, feeling such a surge of love for him it overwhelmed her. Her hands stroked his face, his hair, her thumbs tracing his lips as she lay fully against him.

"Oh, I adore you," she whispered as she searched his face, "and I do love you. So, so much."

She swallowed heavily, looking at him with that same adoration, that same joy she had just before they'd made love, and how that alone made him feel was comparable to nothing else.

"I've always loved you," she whispered, taking him a little by surprise as he raised his eyebrows, "but _falling_ in love with you has been the greatest, the best thing that has…has ever h-happened…to me."

She shook her head, her voice catching as she spoke those final words, her whole heart spilling forth. Chandler tried unsuccessfully to fight back his emotions as he gently placed his palms on her cheeks, wiping away her tears.

"Me, too," he mouthed, a tear falling down his temple, both of them smiling at each other now. " _You_ are the best thing that has ever happened to me, that _will_ ever happen to me. That was true when we were just friends and it's truer now. Ah…more true? Is truer a word?"

Monica giggled through her tears and nodded as he continued to smile at her, his light blue eyes brighter than she'd ever seen them.

"Yes," she said with a grin, softly kissing him. "Truer words than 'I love you' have never been spoken."

"That's right," he said, running his fingers down her cheek. "Truer words have never been spoken. I love you, Monica."

"I love you, too, Chandler," she whispered as he wrapped his arms around her once again and rolled them over, his face now hovering over hers as she clung to him.

"I love you, too," they whispered to each other just before his lips passionately captured hers and they turned their sweet words into their own beautiful, enduring love story.

The End -

 _ **NOTE: Well, I said before the year was out, but I didn't specify what year! Ha! Hope you enjoyed this little story (which I had no plan for when I wrote the first chapter - a rarity for me!).**_

 _ **The seed was planted by one old song I heard on the radio, "Seasons Change" by Expose and its chorus…**_

 _ **"Seasons change, people change,**_

 _ **It's been so long since I found you,**_

 _ **Yet it seems like yesterday.**_

 _ **Seasons change, feelings change,**_

 _ **I'll sacrifice tomorrow just to have you here today…"**_

 _ **And there you have it!**_

 _ **Finishing "Girl Crush" is next, and I know exactly what I want to write there, but it may literally take me all of 2017 to do it! Ah, well, so it goes.**_

 _ **Happy New Year to you all!**_

 _ **Kel**_


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